


No Place for a Hero

by VelvetRedBullet



Series: No Place For a Hero [2]
Category: Arkham Asylum (Comics), Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman: Arkham (Video Games)
Genre: Crime, Dark, Gen, Gotham, Memories, Video Game, abilities, dc, superhero
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-29
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-05-29 22:24:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 29,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6396271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VelvetRedBullet/pseuds/VelvetRedBullet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Sequel to Time Flies by When You're in a Madhouse) </p><p>After a bad car crash Emily is back in the Gotham and it's not long before she is thrown into Arkham City.Here she must grow from past events and learn what she is capable of. But will her relationship between some of the most dangerous criminals start to crack, will she finally discover all the secrets kept from her from all these years or will her unknown past begin to drown her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Arkham Nightmare

Outside the world rushed past, now and again a car would over take them and speed off into the distance down country lanes. At the speed her mother was driving , the trees became blurred shapes and whizzing shades of green. There was no sound, no talk or music from the radio. Ever since her parents started attending marriage counselling sessions things had gotten tense between them all, the meetings were meant to be helping but Emily thought they just made things worse.

The only way Emily found comfort were her daydreams of Arkham asylum and she thought about the possibilities of going back and adventuring in Arkham City. Since she had been in the asylum Emily wanted to be just like Filly, she wanted to at least have fighting skills and be more physically fit and she tried, personal trainer and healthier food but deep down she knew that there would be more to it. She was at gym, martial arts and visited her local swimming pool whenever she could, her brother told her at the rate she was going at she'd be like an Olympic athlete. But her physical routine had started to worry her parents, their concern grew greater when they discovered that during certain nights she would sneak out the house and do free running.

But her father seemed to convince her mother that she was going through a phase and that everything would return to 'normal' eventually. To try and calm her down a bit he had bought her Arkham City and other Batman merchandise to keep her away from her usual routine. And it had worked, her trips to the gym had stopped but they hadn't stopped her from going swimming. Her comic collection grew to fill five cardboard boxes, selves that had occupied books had been replaced with figurines, her chess set were no longer normal pieces but now the Batman heroes and villains.

She only recently fully completed Arkham City, all the side missions done and after hours of hunting all the Riddler challenges, trophies and riddles she had finally solved every single one of them. Emily couldn't wait to finally give the Riddler a good thrashing but unfortunately all he got was a surprise take down which left her feeling a bit unsatisfied. Apart from that the game had been almost perfect, the story, all the side quests, characters you meet and all the little easter eggs, the only thing that let it down was stupid glitches now and again.

The ending was sort of brutal. No matter how much she tried to force tears to fall from her eyes to rid of the emotion she couldn't. When Batman carried the Joker from the theatre Emily realized that she felt nothing as the whole thing made her empty, she didn't want to accept that her Uncle Joker was gone.

From the front her parents began to argue about something but her music drained their voices away. Their shouting contests had be an occurring thing the past couple of months and the cracks were getting longer and longer in the relationship. Emily knew it was only a matter of time until one of them slapped divorce papers on the table, her brother Thane was hoping they'd work things so she never said anything about it to him.

At least she could say that she had lived a dream but it was enough to get her hooked and obsessed. She'd do anything to return to the Gotham universe.

Sighing and dragging her eyes to stare at her bickering parents a stag had jumped from the trees and landed in the middle of the road. It was still like a grand statue and a monster was raging towards it about to cause destruction.

"Mum watch out!" Emily cried, her bother's hand shot past her face pointing out the stag but her cry came too late.

Her mother braked hard but in the fright Emily lost her sense of time as the car swirled to the edge of the road began to tumble down the side of the hill. The window glass shards stung her eyelids and the movement of the car made it difficult to breathe. All she could see were shades of green, brown and red, she was sure that there was a cut in her head and the blood was dripping into her ear but it didn't block out the sounds of Thane's shouts of agony, her mother's banshee cries and her fathers sobs of pain. After several more moments the wrecked car stopped, upside down she figured her way out of her tangled seat belt and crawled painfully out the window. Weak and scared she told herself to call for help but she she opened her mouth all that came out was blood. A phone began to ring, it was her own now with a badly damaged cracked screen she tried to answer it but the screen wouldn't register her finger.

Tears falling from her eyes Emily rolled on to her back and stared up at the sky that was getting darker and darker, rain fell and pattered off the car and the light sound forced her to close her eyes. She drifted off, the sounds drowning her senses, forgetting the pain she succumbed to the blackness.

Then something poked her. Air rushed down her dry cracked throat, she could taste something she could only describe as 'clean'. It reminded her of hospitals.

That was quick...I'm not dead...mum, dad...where's Thane? Are they all OK? Wait, why am I strapped down so tightly? Am I in the ambulance?

Her eyelids jittered open, vision blurred at first she could make out dark shapes hovering over her. Above, lights blinked on and off constantly and people wearing surgery mask stared down at her with menace, they spoke but the language she was sure was english sounded so foreign to her. Had she been hurt that badly in the crash that she needed surgery immediately? Why had that Doctor looked her evilly? Moment's later she was being stormed out through double doors and rushed down a series of filthy corridors.

This was Arkham Asylum. Of course she'd have to wake up here and not somewhere else like Wayne Manor.

It's great to be back...

The countless faces she passed were of Doctors and guards, they all avoided her confused gaze. Now as she was rushed past huge glass cell's inmates stared out to watch. She didn't recognise any of them as some were wearing bandages around their heads, some had their backs turned and her vision hadn't fully focussed yet. She half expected all the villains to one by one step up to the glass and say there part of this dream but instead she was thrown through huge double doors and wheeled into the centre of a almost completely pitch black room. A bright spotlight was shone down on her as the Doctors and nurses around her quickly began to set things up, her bed was adjusted so that her body was level to them all. A silver table was rolled beside her her, sharp surgical equipment neatly placed side by side, there was also a thick roll of what looked like kitchen paper. Soon the Doctors and nurses sharply scurried away like rats and left her in silence.

Then suddenly came a creak of an opening door followed by slow, sinister footsteps. Like a ringmaster stepping out to welcome everyone to his circus, a Doctor came out from the darkness, he wore a more cleaner outfit than the others and a mask around his mouth. Emily had expected it to Hugo Strange at first but her gut was telling her that she was wrong. He approached her with small steps as if she was enjoying the suspense, he glanced at the trolley with a boyish spark in his eyes and picked up a pair of scissors, he then turned to her and she could see the smile he was hiding behind the mask. He took a step to the side so he was fully in front of her then removed his surgeons mask to reveal who he was.

Doctor Jeremiah Arkham chuckled as he swished away dark black and grey greasy hair from his face. His eyes were a chocolate brown shade and they looked eager to play with his toy. Emily hated that the first thought she had of him was that he looked attractive for his age, she guessed that he would be around forty years old. This was the man who had tried to steal her gifts and kill her, she should of been thrashing about trying to get out of her restraints!

The gown she was wearing could have been easily ripped off her with a tug of his hand but he delicately lifted the hem of the paper-like gown, and slowly began to snip up the front. Her eyes shut tight trying to keep the tears back but each sound of the scissors cutting it's way up made stomach turn and bubble, and her throat became dry and cracked with sickness.

"My, my, didn't you grow up fast." His sick words made her gag, she wanted to throw up but it was as if her body wasn't her own. Jeremiah began to touch her stomach in a soothing manner but couldn't feel his fingers, even when he touched her neck, legs and sides there was no sensation. Then from the tray he picked up a much larger knife and he began his sick deeds.

There was no pain when the knife tore off the flesh around her heart, even when he carved deeper and pulled apart her bones she didn't feel a thing. No matter how badly she wanted to cry her eyes wouldn't create any tears to fall, she couldn't even take her eyes away when he carefully pulled out her heart.

Her stare was dead, all light and life gone but she locked on to his gaze and simply said, "Uncle Joker is going to hang your insides above his fireplace."

His blood covered hand went up to caress her face, he smothered blood over the right side of her face, "Beautiful." The next thing he did, was place her heart to his lips and took a large bite from it then within a matter of seconds Emily screamed. It was terrifying and glass shattering, she felt everything, his soft touches and the mutilation. It wouldn't stop until the sadistic doctor and devoured her entire heart.

Once it was over she didn't have a chance to have a short moment of relief as Jeremiah grabbed a fistful of her hair and pinned her head hard on to the back of the bed. His face got very close to her's, so close that she could hear his thoughts. "You are mine."

Frightened to the core Emily unleashed her final scream and shut her eyes tight. Her scream seem to last forever but when she had the courage to open her eyes again she wasn't with Jeremiah any more, now she was lying on a bed with fluffy pillows, sheets and a toy horse.

Emily threw off the duvet to inspect her skin, there was no scars or blood stains on her, it had only been a nightmare, a very realistic nightmare. But it took a few seconds to realize that she was fully nude. She didn't often sleep in the nude, usually if she had a bad night shift at work she'd tear everything off and just fall into a soft heap on her bed. Her eyes shut tight and her hands ran through her hair and rubbed her face as Emily replayed the events of the car crash over and over, the nightmare had left her sweaty and whenever she stopped thinking about the car tumbling her mind would put Jeremiah's smile in front of her.

Getting out of bed she stood in the room nude, not bothering to cover herself she looked around curiously. The bedroom she was in was very bright, white walls, wardrobe and one large mirror, there was also a door which lead into an one suite bathroom. In the next room was the living room and kitchen area, it was the typical student apartment, it looked clean and nice.

A pile of letters sat at the bottom of the door, inspecting them they were all junk mail addressed to the home owner. Sitting by the TV was a photo of herself with Cash, then a photo of herself blowing out birthday candles with the Doctors smiling behind her. So it was clear that the apartment was her's. Sitting on the edge of her blue leather sofa she leaned her head in her hand and tried to settle her nerves and focus on the now.

How long had it been since she left the asylum? By the look of the letters she guessed around six to eight months even thought the apartment still had that 'new' smell. On the table was a diary that she picked up flipped through; in different dates, mostly at weekends were times and next to it was a word, 'Lizzies', it took her a moment to realize that the place was a strip club, her eyes grew wide until she noticed that in a previous date she had wrote: 'Interview for bouncer job.'

I'm a bouncer for a strip club? She couldn't help but laugh at that.

On the fridge there was a yellow post-it note with capital letters; BRUCE'S PARTY, 13TH JUNE 7.30. Checking the calender on the wall tonight was the night which was perfect, plus when she had awaken the time had been five o'clock not giving her much time to catch up on what she had missed. While having a quick shower she searched on the internet all of the big stories from the Arkham asylum take over to now. Although she didn't get to read most of the articles she came across she managed an OK job at her natural looking make-up, inside the wardrobe there was a long dark blue dress covered in a protective sheet, the perfect dress for a party. She was tempted to wear a pair of converse shoes with it as the heels in the wardrobe looked like they could kill her but she found a smaller pair of black ones. In the mirror Emily looked at herself and sighed at the reflection, to her she looked like a little girl trying on her mothers make-up and clothes, trying to hard to look older.

Mum...

But now wasn't the time to think about that or the nightmare, she was awake and they were just dreams to her now...

Grabbing a clutch bag she decided she was ready and began dialling a number for a taxi. Was it embarrassing to go to a party like this without a date or a friend? If so she would just have to make a quick entrance and hope she didn't make too much of a fool of herself. The taxi arrived twenty minutes later, she locked her apartment door and ran as quickly and carefully as she could down three flights of stairs. Opening the double doors of the apartment block the taxi was sitting waiting patiently for her. Wasting no time she opened the door and gave the address to the party. She didn't really care if she didn't arrive in style like most of the guests that would be there.

Arriving a the building that was hosting the party she threw money at the driver not caring how much it was. Upon entering she as a little confused as she searched around her building and didn't find any kind of ticket for the event but a doormen standing between a flight of stairs and elevator welcomed her with a cheery smile.

"Good evening Miss Emily, taking the elevator as usual?" he chuckled. Politely smiling back he called it down then tipped his hat to her once she was inside and the doors shut.

The journey up seemed like it was taking forever but then came the usual ding and the elevator doors opened. Emily prayed that once she stepped out not all eyes were fixed on her. Cautiously taking baby steps she managed not to attract too much attention, she hid behind groups of people keeping to herself and avoiding waiters carrying trays of bubbling champagne.

She had to be here as she was one of Bruce Wayne's 'toys', well that's what the online gossip websites said. After the incident at Arkham Asylum Bruce had made clear that he wanted to help the patients and the asylum get back to good health even though he was already giving funds to them. So Emily was the patient that would receive the most attention and help to recover outside the asylum walls. Once the vague news of this was out there were so many theories of who she might be. One article said that she was a patient that Wayne had knocked up, that gave her the giggles. But most other media sites and newspapers saw it as just another one of Bruce Wayne's outrageous charity schemes but that was the whole point.

Emily was used to having a large table filled with snacks such as cocktail sausages on sticks, mini slices of pizza and sandwiches that always had butter in them. But all the food was beautifully displayed there was not a paper plate or a plastic fork in sight. She was almost too scared to remove a piece of shrimp from it's display as she didn't want to ruin the delicious view of expensive food.

All around her were people, some of them were possibly very important people from the comics and game and she had no clue what they looked like. However she was certain that she recognised a couple of names being mentioned like Minerva Matthews who was a well known millionaire who had a keen interest in music and instruments, Roland Daggett the man who was a thorn in most people's sides and Dana Blessing who was Bruce's secretary. Things were beginning to get very claustrophobic and she needed fresh air.

Stepping out into the balcony Emily had her first view of Gotham City, it was wonderful to see all the buildings and lights, there was a chill but it didn't bother her. She imagined that the wind used to be a lot colder and with it carried corruption and greed and then they were dropped into the laps of men and woman. But she made it sound too much like a fairytale origin story.

"Hi there, I'm Brian Rogers, Dick's friend. He said that he would introduce us but he's always one for his disappearing acts."

Emily smiled at the mention of his name as she remembered reading a little bit about him. Him and Dick were room mates when they were at university, he was eager to become a professional football player so that with the sports money he could help out his family. On the day of the game between Gotham State University and State Tech, scouts from major teams were invited to watch and they were looking for new talent. This was his big chance to impress but Scarecrow had infected him the night before with his newish kind of fear toxin and during the game he hallucinated that the opposing team were monsters. He broke down in the middle of the game and he was rushed to the hospital but soon once the cause of his panic had been discovered Brian made a quick, full recovery. And the next day the Gotham Knights signed him up.

They both shook each other's hand, "Please to meet you Mr Rogers. You'll have to forgive me when I tell you that I don't really know much about football."

Brian laughed and leaned casually against the balcony, "Not to worry, we can leave the sports banter for another time. Fancy parties like this are strictly for the business talk right?"

"Yes, and also they're great opportunities for gossiping," she nodded her head in the direction of a few ladies inside who were passing little giggles to one and other, "Some things don't ever seem to change."

"I agree. Then most of the men just talk about all the affair's they've had since the last party." he added. Emily gave him another smile, she forget that not everyone here was a complete high class moron. She liked Brian.

"So what else do you do besides football Mr Rogers?" she asked highly amused that they both had the same last name.

"Well my dear I actually enjoy playing the violin, calms me down after an intense game. At night's I like to do about forty lengths in my swimming pool then occasionally I will have rain fall playing through speakers to help me drift off to sleep. Your turn." he winked and bashed her shoulder playfully.

"I enjoy swimming and running. I'm a fan of playing video games and whenever I find the time I like to paint."

Glancing over her shoulder she saw a tall man watch them from the window, he wore a smirk and his hair was styled well. She was sure it was Dick Grayson wearing a rather pleased look. It was all to obvious what he was doing, trying to get his friend some female company. In all honestly Emily thought that Brian was a handsome chap but she was approaching just the age of nineteen and she guessed that he was around twenty-six or twenty-seven, the age gap was rather big.

From the corner of her eye she saw someone walking towards them, she turned her head to look at the man about to intrude on their cutesy conversation but she grew a large smile when she saw it was no other than the host of the party.

"Good evening Mr Wayne." Brian suddenly stood to attention like a prince had just entered the room.

"Evening Brian, hope you're enjoying the party. May I borrow Emily here for a moment?"

"Of course. It was a pleasure to finally meet you Miss Rogers." he took her hand and kissed it then went back into the party leaving Bruce and herself out on the balcony.

"Have you been hiding from everyone?" he asked voice humorous.

"Sorry it's just, there's no way I'm going to get used to this sort of thing. The fancy food, expensive wine and the gentlemen company."

He walked forward so he was in front of her, "Your outfit is ready for you to test in the Batcave," he said changing the subject, "The devices are still under construction."

Emily grinned and gave a small laugh, "So the Batman and the one they call Shadowmare will soon be fighting crime side by side?" she commented with a wink.

Before Bruce could reply to her comment TYGER Guards stormed into the penthouse, guns pointed at people but they were hunting for one person while causing a panic among the rich and wealthy.

"Emily Rogers?! You are under arrest, please slowly come forward with your hands up!" Her whole body froze when she heard her name being shouted, her legs wouldn't move even when the guards had entered the balcony area. They called her name three more times and on the forth she finally responded to them. There was no point in resisting the arrest so she walked towards them her head staring straight at the floor.

"Surely there has to be some mistake." Bruce walked forward but instantly guns pointed his way.

"Mr Wayne please stay back, you've been warned!" They weren't soft with her, she was grabbed harshly and rushed forward towards the elevator, behind her she could hear Bruce talking and rumours being whispered to one and another by all the guests.

The elevator doors shut with a ding but there was no music to break the awkward tension between her and the four guards.

"Where are you taking me?" her voice sounding a little wobbly.

Even though she knew exactly where she was going, she needed to hear it, "Arkham City doll face."


	2. The City

There was no large welcome for her, no criminals shaking at the bars or climbing over the gates to swing a punch at her, she was a tad disappointed. Before the giant metal doors had opened a map was given to her to show directions to the flat she that she'd be staying while incarcerated in the city. In all honestly she felt like she knew Arkham City like the back of her hand so she found the place no problem at all.

Getting to Arkham City had taken long. In the back of an armoured truck, handcuffed but calm, they had only driven a couple of streets before she heard sirens coming left, right and centre. They were at a halt for a while as she could hear an argument right outside which she thought was going between Commissioner Gordon and one of the TYGER guards. Then moment's later the truck started back up again and went in the opposite direction from before and finally she found herself at the police station.

Filly was left in a interview room alone, everything was set up exactly in the way that movies show you; the dim lamp light, table with little hollows where someone had their head smashed. From the outside she could hear everything so clearly as if the conversation was taking place right in front of her. The door had opened and Gordon approached her and took a seat. He began to speak but Filly wasn't really listening, her thought's were on Arkham City. It was a scary thought, being stuck in a place filled with the most feared and dangerous criminals in Gotham, and no doubt there would be lots of the stupid ones too.

"I want to speak with Hugo Strange, please." she said interrupting Gordon. At first it looked as though he was about to ignore what she has asked but he only stared at her for a moment before nodding at her request then left the interview room.

It wasn't long until Hugo Strange joined her, she changed her posture, back straight, leg's crossed and arms folded and sitting tightly on the surface of the table. Although their encounter in Arkham asylum had been brief he hadn't seemed to care about her, she more like a thing that he just wanted out of the way and swept under the sofa and forgotten about. Filly carefully watched his actions; Strange wasn't as intimating as he thought it was, maybe she just wasn't frightened of him because she knew that he was only a pawn. When he walked in, strong and confident, demanding instant attention and respect had almost made her tumble off her seat in a laughing fit.

Hugo really didn't like being in here, as he wasn't in charge of the police station, sure enough he could have the Mayor on the phone in seconds who would happily let him do as he pleased but with Gordon and Bruce outside, who were probably listening in, made him feel very uncomfortable.

"Good evening Miss Rogers." he pulled up a chair and sat himself down, "The Commissioner and Bruce Wayne are fighting very hard to keep you out of Arkham City, they are quite protective of you."

She wasn't sure how to approach the conversation, but she just wanted to cut to the chase with him. "I will go to Arkham City but there are one or two things that'll need to be discussed."

"What do you wish to talk about Miss Rogers?" he asked folding his arms as if he was expecting her to have a list of typical, silly teenage things.

"I want to go back to my apartment and pack a couple of bags, fresh clothes, books. I want my own things, I will not wear a orange prison jumpsuit. And if you don't trust me I'll allow one of your TYGER guards to supervise me while I do it. Fair?"

"What else?"

"A good, safe apartment. Hot water and electricity, I heard that you air drop in food packages to the inmates and I think they're should be a better way to hand it out."

He chuckled, "My, my, these are quite the demands."

Way he spoke to her was as if she was a child. He tried to establish to her that he was the Boss, he was in charge and what he said was law, nothing would happen until he nodded or shook his head. It was highly amusing to her that she knew who was really pulling the strings

"I'm sure once the Commissioner and Mr Wayne have heard my decision and accepted it they to will also bring this up and most likely other subjects. I think that if you want me in Arkham City so badly, you'll listen to them and you will make promises and keep them."

Hugo Strange could deal with murderer's and Gothams worst but young adults he found extremely difficult. He never expected Emily to speak to him like that and it annoyingly got underneath his skin. He knew her profile and personality so her attitude and words took him by surprise. Strange had let his guard down and it infuriated him so but he smirked at her and pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose then intertwined his fingers together into a tight clasp. Leaning forward he made one last attempt to put her back in her place.

"My dear, I can make your life extremely difficult. Do not try and threaten me with your friends outside, I have much more power over them."

"But you're still uncomfortable around them," she pointed out, "Look, I don't care why you want me in Arkham City. I knew that I'd be going there sooner or later, all I ask is that I have a good place to stay, have my own clothing and make some sort of deal about the food packages. You don't need to make it into a big huge deal."

He didn't reply to her, instead he stood and tucked his chair under the table and left the room without a word leaving Emily to sit and worry. For another half an hour she sat there listening to shouting, then when Bruce and Gordon came in to chat with her there was even more shouting but no matter what they said to try and convince her to fight her way out of going to Arkham City she wouldn't change her mind. Emily was rushed away to her flat, accompanied by a TYGER guard, and allowed to back three bags, most of her wardrobe, underwear, books, pads, pens, toothpaste and toothbrush. Once each bag was double checked they were back in the truck and heading to Arkham City.

And now she was here. It was a quick process, her eyes were taken a scan of and her fingerprints, a patient interview time list was given to her and the keys to her new home in Park Row.

Emily expected the worst when she opened the door to her new apartment but the door swung open revealing a clean looking living room and kitchen, sure the carpet needed hoovering and the taps needed a polish but it was respectable. The bathroom and her bedroom were exactly the same, she grinned to herself in relief when she found her bags sitting on the sofa and all her belongings were inside, nothing was missing.

It was very late, the time had past 10pm and outside everything was alive and burning. How long would she wait before stepping out to explore the city? The colours of a storm and fire shone through the windows, and blood thirsty men were like constant car alarms going off their cries of anger and cruel laughter would never stop. For the moment all she could do was unpack her things and see what was working. The TV wasn't in fit condition, there was barely a good picture when she tried to tune it. A couple of light bulbs would need replaced, the radiator's were constantly going on and off so she would need to figure out how to control them and the lock on the front door wasn't perfect, if someone had tried to get in all they would have to do was shove hard three times and they'd be in.

After unpacking her clothes there was a small noise which sounded like a bee stuck in a fire alarm. Curiously looking carefully out the window from below, pressing a buzzer was a thug dressed in dark clothing so she couldn't figure out which side he was on. He was holding something in his hands but was hunched over as if he was protecting whatever he was carrying, his position suggested that if he dropped or damaged the object he'd be strictly punished. Rushing out of her flat and down the small flight of stairs, she cautiously opened the main building doors a little, peeked her head slightly out and asked him what he wanted.

He didn't say anything at all, he revealed what he was holding which was a large bouquet of flowers, he looked very relived once she had carefully took it from him. The thug nodded his head in goodbye then ran down into a alley and disappeared, it was clear now that this wasn't his turf.

The flowers were of different kinds but the colours were purple and green and sitting inside it was a small envelope. Back inside her flat she found something the next best thing to a vase and placed them inside, she had never been given flowers before and they certainly did brighten up the place. The walls were rather dull and boring, some pictures or paintings would really brightened things up, a small request that Strange would be happy to comply with she hoped. Opening the envelope Emily pulled out a decorative red and white card, she couldn't hold back her a smile as she read the messy yet stylish handwriting inside.

The words written said:

"Welcome to your new home kiddo! Love Uncle J." New's certainly travelled fast in Arkham City. Emily wasn't really expecting any of the other rogues to give her a nice little welcome but she would have to visit the Joker at some point and thank him for the flowers. Thinking about it many of the villains would have already met her younger self and in a place as big as the city it was going to be hard to find memories to get clues to her past. Then a thought struck her.

**Does Aaron know that I'm in here?**

It was late but there was no harm in going to the Church for a look, and if he wasn't she'd at least get to know the medical team. Slipping by criminals she easily made it to the Church without catching any attention, in all honesty she felt more nervous about Aaron's reaction but taking a few deep breaths and opened the double doors into the small entrance then slowly opened the next door into the church.

At first glance the place looked empty but there was a radio playing so someone was here. Quietly shutting the door behind her she walked further in with her hands awkwardly in her pockets.

"Filly?" Her head snapped in the direction of his voice, her eyes locked with Aaron's and he looked back at her with a painful expression before dropping his gun on to the floor then running towards her Aaron pulled her into one of his comforting yet suffocating hugs.

He must have hugged her for minutes as she was aware that they had gathered a small audience. She patted Aaron's back he finally pulled away but his hands clasped onto her shoulders tightly, "What the Hell are you doing here?!" he asked through clenched teeth.

"You didn't hear? I'm a inmate now, gotta pay my time for all those ten pence sweets I stole from the corner shop." Trying to lightened the mood she gave him a awkward smile but he wasn't returning a smile back.

"This isn't funny Emily," hearing her name from Aaron was so strange to her, he always called her Filly, "Why the damn hell has Hugo Strange put you in here?!"

Everyone was staring at them now, it wasn't a private conversation but she recognised a few people, M.P.T Anne Bishop, Medic Adam Hamasaki, M.P.T Eddie Burlow and M.P.T William North. Looking into the security guards eyes she sensed his fear and what he was thinking; since Arkham City had been opened he was terrified that Emily would be put there. Getting the job here was mainly for that reason, he didn't want her in this place all alone because he believed if no one was there for her the city and all of it's dangerous criminals would kill her. Sure she had lived in an insane asylum all of her life, seeing all the crazies and the unhinged doctors but Aaron had always tried his hardness to keep her safe, it was easy to protect a child in a place like you knew like the back of your hand.

"Don't think of me as an inmate Cash OK. Think it like I'm on work experience or something." Aaron was having a tough time controlling his temper, his grip on her shoulders was insanely hard now, "Please, there is no point going to Strange about this. I promise that'll I'll explain everything to you when we a bit more privacy OK."

"Do any of them know you are here?" he asked.

By 'them' she figured he meant the Joker, Harley, Poison Ivy and the other super villains. "No Cash, none of them know yet" she lied.

"Well, just try and keep a low profile ok, please?" He removed his hands from her shoulders then pulled her back into a quick, warm hug. "I want you here every day though understand?" he ordered.

She chuckled and nodded her head to keep him happy, "Are you gonna introduce me to your team?"

Most of the medical team had been escorted out of the city but sometimes they would take long shifts, Cash looked like he hadn't been home in days. The conditions weren't too great, the place felt very damp and pillars looked like they would collapse at any minute but they had tried to make the place at safe as possible, it wasn't like Strange was going to give them a real medical centre inside the city.

She ended up talking to a Doctor named Martin Bailey, he seemed very optimistic a strange trait to have in a prison such like this. "You're not the only new one here. We have a new Doctor, arrived a couple of days ago but he's went off on his own somewhere, something Aaron isn't very pleased with but I think the guy must have lived around here when he was younger and knows his way about." Emily had her own suspicion on who that might be. "But you won't catch me out there on my own, I mean I'm glad that I can help the people in here but sometimes I forget that it's a big scary place."

"Yeah, it is a big terrifying place. Do you get a lot of crim-, I mean inmates coming on here for treatment?"

"Sometimes, I think they feel like if they come in here to get patched up it's a sign of weakness to others. But we take a group of two, one guard and two doctors and they patrol area's of Arkham City and assist those who need medical help. We've had no bad incidents yet and we've been here two months so I guess that's something to be pleased about."

"I could help on all the patrols," she happily offered, "I don't know any medical stuff but I can keep a watch out and defend myself and others."

"You're hired sweetpea." said Aaron joining the conversation, "A good way to keep an eye on you." Emily smiled glad that he had calmed down a bit and wore a smile. He did ask plenty of questions and she assured him that she was living in good conditions and promised to take him on a grand tour when he was off patrol.

When 12am hit Emily said her goodbyes to the team and Aaron was keen to walk her back but she managed to convince him not too as since she was a new face it may catch someone's eye. Back in her apartment she stripped off her clothes and changed into comfortable nightwear but she sensed that sleep wasn't going to be easy on her first night here. Peeking out her window before shutting the blinds she looked at the buildings surrounding her and the people who were running it, somehow she would have to make her mark and show them that she wasn't someone to be messed with. Then from the corner of her eye she spotted a figure standing on a rooftop edge, he clearly wanted Emily to see him and she knew instantly who it was.

Azrael. Her eyes were locked on to him for several seconds then like in the game and his encounters with Batman he created a cloud of smoke and he disappeared.

Her smile couldn't be stopped. **This is going to be fun.**


	3. Visiting Uncle Joker

"Please don't call me that" begged Emily while rolling her eyes at Cash.

"Why not? It's been your nickname for years!"

Her first sleep in Arkham had been restless, with so much noise going on outside she plugged in a old style vacuum cleaner to drain out other sounds, she had concentrated on the soothing hum of the vacuum and it eventually helped her sleep. In the morning the outdated cleaner was still going and she felt oddly proud of it and decided from then on she'd call it Henrietta. Her new routine in the morning was firstly to take a shower to rid of the dusty and sooty smell of the city off her skin, it was a long process since the hot water was going on and off every few minutes. Breakfast wasn't good as nothing had been delivered to her apartment yet so she had to settle on a glass of water but she was sure that Cash would have supplies.

When she got close to the Church she could see Cash was standing outside with his arms crossed waiting for her and when she finally arrived at nine o'clock he relaxed then welcomed her with a tight hug. All of the team were inside so she was introduced to the ones that weren't there the other night and was given toast with jam and a coffee and it was extremely satisfying.

"I know but I've out grown it, I'm not a kid any more. Please, just call me Emily."

"No promises, Filly" he winked.

Emily had wanted to go out with the groups around the City but Aaron wasn't keen on the idea as he threatened to handcuff her to his own wrist if he she ever asked again.

"I want to help Cash, I'm not much use in here. I'm rubbish when it comes to applying plasters and bandages and...and putting pills into the right containers."

He gave her an annoyed look, "I am fed up of giving you the same answer over and over again," he sighed, "I know that you can put up a fight and protect yourself, I witnessed it all back on the island but this is different now, it's a whole lot bigger than before."

"I understand that Cash but..." he gave her another look and so she dropped the subject but she would keep bringing it up until he changed his mind. But she knew he that was right, everything was bigger but after her experience in Arkham asylum, she had spent all her time and money at the gym, out jogging and occasionally practised parkour as if she was ever back in the Batman universe she wanted to be more prepared.

For the full day Emily spent her time with the Doctors trying to help whenever she could, and during a short break she got to know Eddie Burlow who promised to each her how to play card games.

"Do you mind if I leave now? I'm meant to be getting a food package delivered to me at some point this evening and I need to be there when they arrive." she lied.

Cash hesitated for a moment before saying yes but he insisted on walking her back to the apartment, "It's just around the corner Cash, I'll be fine I promise. Look, why don't you give me a walkie talkie and I'll let you know I'm fine and in one piece when I get home."

"You know what Filly, that's not a bad idea." Armed with a walkie talkie she left the church quickly before Cash could change his mind or say anything. Once back in her apartment Emily took a shower then chose a new outfit to wear, she was going to pay someone a visit and decided she'd have to look her best. At nine o'clock Emily went around the side of the building and climbed the steps that lead up to the roof. It didn't take her long to reach the top but it wasn't too high up so there was no full view of the city.

But the building across from her had a roof then a platform that she could use to get higher but her eyes glanced at the ground below which seemed very far away.

_The gaps didn't look as big as they did in the games..._

Swallowing the lump in her throat she too twelve steps backwards and readied herself for the jump. In the real world the gaps between the buildings she jumped weren't as wide as these were but in Arkham City she wasn't a normal a person, she could do this...she hoped. Like a hair tie being stretched to the limit then let go, Emily propelled herself forward, forced herself to get as much speed and strength as possible and then she got to the edge.

Her eyes began to water at the air battled against her but it wasn't long until her feet landed on the roof but instead of stopping like she planned, her feet kept going and soon she had jumped on to the platform and on to the next building. Getting closer to the docks Emily, out of breath slumped onto a new roof and rested for a few moments. Deciding to continue her journey on foot, she climbed down the building and tried to recognise where she had ended up. Luckily she spotted a sign that lead her to the Sionis Mill, her only problem now was getting there without catching the attention of the henchmen.

Emily would have marked herself three out of ten for her landing, if an inmate and witnessed her clash with the ground she was pretty sure they'd compare her to a pigeon having a heart attack from a great height then splatting on the concrete. Rubbing her now sore thigh a couple of times she decided that she'd have to find a way to get some sort of armour. The armour that Cash wore looked pretty good but it would it difficult for her to move around quickly. A image suddenly popped into her and she smiled in delight at what she remembered from her Arkham brain palace.

Otis Flannegan a.k.a The Ratcatcher was in the city. Well she hoped he still was. Otis was once an actual rat catcher, he had a strange, natural gift that would grant him power and control over the vermin he caught. He tried to threaten Gotham with a plague of rats years ago but like every threat to Gotham the Batman was there to stop him. Filly figured that nowadays he was just a scared, skinny man like the creatures he controlled, scurried about in the darkness trying to keep out of trouble.

But he wasn't going to last long in this city' collecting bits and pieces for the inmates kept him alive and 'safe' and it annoyed the Penguin that a small time criminal like Otis was getting the business that he had 'expertise' in. Cobblepot would send his goons to collect him and then Penguin would kill him. She hoped that he was still alive in Arkham City, if he was she believed that she'd be able to give him some sort of protection, and in exchange all he had to do was use his rats to get the things she needed to survive in the prison.

"Look at what we got here, some fresh meat boys."

Three of the men snapped their heads in her direction, "I haven't seen a woman in months!"

Emily stopped herself rolling her eyes at the typical, sleazy inmates. Standing strong she took a few confident steps towards them. "I'm here to see the Joker, so either take me to him or step aside." She out her hands on her hips like Wonder Woman did, she was sure she read somewhere if you did that people didn't try to mess you around and knew you meant business.

The group began to approach her, her words going through one ear then out the other. Emily didn't want this as her first fist fight in the City, Hell it had been months since she had to defend herself, but she stood strong then began warn them to back off to which they only laughed at. When they were only four paces away Emily raised her fists until someone shouted behind the men.

"Stop," an inmate wearing a large black jumper over his orange jumpsuit approached them, "If you put one finger on that girl the Joker will have a few words with you, then he'll probably kill you and feed you to his hyenas. Come along girlie, he's waiting for yah."

Without another word she rushed past the rude henchmen and reached the other inmates side. She almost whispered a thank you until she properly took in his face and appearance.

"You were the one who brought me the flowers yes?" he didn't say a word but only nodded his head in reply, "I'm Emily Rogers." she gave her best smile and held out her hand. He looked at it as if he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do.

"Just call me Club all right, and don't fall behind, if you get lost then get killed the Boss will blame me."

Saying nothing else she walked by his side and stayed silent. He took her inside the main area and Emily had to stop her excitement from seeing the real thing in front of her, she even spied the vent lid that Batman popped out of to take down the Joker thugs. Both of them walked up the staircase and at the top they met at a short corridor and at the end was a door with 'BOSS' in green sprayed over it.

"Just knock three times and enter." Club patted her shoulder and acted as if he had just delivered her to her executioner. Emily stood still for a minute and tried to calm her nerves, the last time she had seen him was on top of Arkham Asylum and be was beaten by Batman. Breathing in and out calmly she approached the door and followed the instructions she was given.

The door handle was stiff and it took two pushed down until it opened. The office was huge and dimly lit, the large ceiling lights flickered and buzzed due to flies trapped inside. Placing her hands inside her trouser pockets Emily cautiously walked further in and gazed in the familiar sites like Harley's nurse outfit from the asylum, the huge Harley intercom that you'd have to destroy in the game, a big mirror with lights around it like one you'd find in a actors dressing room and a pile of green, unopened boxes.

Emily reached out, picked one up and examined it closely and tried to keep weird images from her head. Emily wondered how Harley managed to get all of these tests, maybe there were still stores out there that hadn't all been ransacked.

There was a shuffling behind her, her head snapped around and she saw a armchair and an outline of a body. "Mr Joker?" Dropping the box she called his name again and got no response. With slow steps Emily stood in front of him expecting him to give her a small jump scare but for a few long moments he was still.

Frowning, Emily decided to shake his shoulder, "Hey, are you in there?" She shook him roughly and his head tumbled off and rolled on to the floor. Emily held in a terrified squeak and cursed quietly at herself for the cheap spook.

"Sorry, I don't fall for the dead Joker gag any more." she called out into the grimy darkness. There was suddenly a fit of coughing with giggles in between them, from the darkest corner the clown prince of crime stepped into the dim, dramatic lighting, it looked as if he had rehearsed his unveil a few times before she had arrived.

"Now now don't lie my dear, I saw you flinch." he gave his signature grin which looked tired then moved towards the armchair and threw the body off it and she noticed that he struggled for a moment and he tried to cover it up. He pulled the chair more into the light then slumped down into it and looked at Emily happily, "Now where are my manners?!" he shouted gleefully, bouncing out the chair he grabbed Emily's arms and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Thank you for the flowers" she replied awkwardly her head pushed into his chest.

The Joker pulled away from her but kept his hands on her shoulders, "I must admit, I thought I'd see you sooner."

"Yeah well Cash has been trying to put a tight leash on me. It's difficult to get away", there was a small pause because Emily spoke again,"So you don't hate me?"

He gave a low, sad sounding chuckle, "You're forgiven my sweet. I could never stay mad at you!" he falls back into the chair and Emily takes her time taking in his appearance.

The poison hadn't ruined his face yet, however she could spot a few symptoms like slight hair loss, a yellow tinge in his eye that she knew would change to red and around his ears and mouth his skin was changing to a pink tint. But she kept quiet as he hadn't brought it up and there was no way she was going to push any of his buttons this early.

"Tell me, what has the Daughter of Arkham been up to, hmm?"

"Well apart from being thrown into here, I guess I've just been living a normal life. I dunno if you heard but I moved out of the asylum and got an apartment, I don't have any pets though, it would have been nice if I had a goldfish to brighten the place up or something."

"Sounds good" he said with a disinterested tone, "Do you have a boyfriend?" he asked raising a curious eyebrow.

"I'm not interested in boys Joker" she simply replied.

There was a small pause, "Girlfriend?"

Emily let out a laugh, "No, I don't have time for that sort of thing."

There conversations had stops and starts but the Joker had filled her in on how he came into the City but made no comment or hint about the TITAN sickness within him and she doubted that he'd want to discuss it with her.

"You want to know something funny? Before getting thrown in here, I think I almost had a normal life."

"Is that really what you wanted my dear?"

Emily thought about it for a moment, "No, I guess not. Normal didn't look good on me" she smiled.

The clown grinned in approval, "Before I let you go my sweet there is something that I do wish to chat about. I can't protect you here, when you grew up in the asylum I could make sure no one laid a finger on you but in here you're on your own."

The young woman felt flattered that the most evil man in the Batman Universe felt concerned for her. "I know what I'm dealing with inside the prison Joker, I'm not saying I won't have a few trips and falls but I'll be OK."

He gave her a long stare which seemed to say that he knew a lot more than she did but he didn't comment. "Well, I can't wait to see you grow into, what did you name yourself? Shadowmare was it?"

Her full face blushed a deep red as she remembered the 'superhero' name she had given herself back in the asylum. "I forgot about that, maybe I'll go back to the drawing board with it."

"No no no no no! I told you that the name was perfect for you! Don't change it your warned you hear!" he laughed at the end. The Joker stood from his chair and gave Filly a goodbye hug and showed her to the door and told her to come back in two days.

Walking down the stair caseClub appeared from around the corner and escorted her out of the Mill and back to the now empty docks, "Here," he handed her a clown mask, "If you ever come back here wear this so you don't catch any unwanted attention. You can probably handle yourself fine in a fight but I won't always be around to back you up if it goes tits up."

"Thanks...do you think Shadowmare sounds intimidating?"

"Um, sure I guess. So why does the Joker like you so much?" he asked changing the subject.

"Oh I grew up in Arkham Asylum and he became my foster uncle so to speak."

Club nodded his head at her straight answer. "Grew up in a asylum. You're crazy then?"

She rolled her eyes, "No I'm not crazy, I just happened to have special powers. And no more questions please," she cut off the nosy inmate, "I really need to get back."

"All right, see you around crazy girl. Oh and welcome to the City."


	4. Settling In

Emily took a chair and sat down at the huge organ at the back of the church and began to randomly press keys pretending to compose a sad masterpiece. This was her tenth day in the prison and she'd yet to explore more of the place as Cash was keeping a close eye on her just like he promised. So she spent her time shadowing and helping the doctors, she had learnt a lot over her first few days; cleaning and stitching wounds and how to bandage a broken arm properly.

Whenever she wasn't needed her thoughts would turn to the villains living in the city. She had no fear about meeting the Joker and Harley again, Bane had helped her in the asylum, Victor wasn't nice but she wasn't planning on going to visit him. In her head she counted and named the villains she hadn't met yet: Two-Face, the Penguin, Black Mask, Mr Freeze, Mad Hatter and Catwoman just to name a few. But Emily wondered if her younger self had already met some of Gotham's infamous. She had encounters with the Riddler and Calendarman in the asylum as a child so it was likely she still had a lot of memories to unlock.

"Emily!" Cash called taking her away from her thoughts. She followed him into his tiny office which was a small room that used to hoarded bibles. There were two rotting bookcases and a desk pressed up against it as if it were trying to hold them together. Sitting on the desk was a lamp, a cloth and a picture of Cash's family.

"Is everything all right?" she asked. He looked nervous, rubbing his face and leaning on the desk, he then crossed his arms tightly and stared at the floor.

After a moment of silence he finally looked at her and spoke "Do you want to come on a patrol with Eddie, Anne, Martin and me?"

"What made you change your mind?" she couldn't stop the smile at the corners of her mouth.

"I can't keep you in here forever, plus Eddie won't shut up about it." he replied and gave a quick glance in his colleagues direction.

Emily chuckled in triumph, she was glad to know that Eddie had her back. Over a short period of time Eddie and Emily had gotten close. During one of their card games she remembered that Eddie was one of the few to survive Arkham Asylum, he had to watch his friends die from Joker's poison gas and he had been possessed by Poison Ivy, she couldn't believe that he'd still want to work in a Arkham facility.

Eddie had a friendly round face and was a little podgey, and before Emily showed up he was the youngest member in the Medical Protection Team. He was very charming and told a lot of bad jokes, he acted like a big brother and tried to keep conversations as light-hearted as possible which Emily was thankful for.

"I'd very much like that Cash."

He nodded, "Yeah I know. Wait here and I'll get you some protective gear."

Alone in the office Emily picked up the framed photo of Cash and his family she wiped away the dust collecting on the glass. There had to be photos of her as a child somewhere, surely some were taken in the asylum so she made a mental note to ask Cash later if he had any of her but chances of ever getting one were slim. Cash soon returned with a heavy looking vest, he helped her put it on and went over some rules that she barely paid attention to.

"We're scouting Park Row, if some inmates won't come to us then we'll go to them" Martin told her as he was packing up medical supplies. She was given a rucksack filled with bandages and other healing products; half an hour later after going over a standard health and safety procedure the team took to the cities streets.

In Park Row you would come across many places and the temptation to explore the Courthouse, Harvey Dent's old office, the ACE Chemicals building and Crime Alley was boiling inside her. She expected the group to attract a lot of bad attention but slowly inmates would approach Cash or another member of the team with their hands displayed to prove they had no weapons then they'd be treated for their illness. During the first two hours the medical team had seen bloody noses, swollen eyes, stab wounds and broken bones, they helped a lot of people but she never heard anyone say 'thanks'.

"Please...please I, need help" groaned a bearded inmate walking towards them clutching his side.

The doctors got him to lie on the ground so they could inspect his injury, the man explained between short breaths that he fell from a staircase on to a sharp piece of scrap metal. Seeing the deep cut and the amount of blood falling on to the wet pavement Emily decided to take a step back at let the doctors do their job. It was surprising to her how quiet the city was, there were no riots or cars on fire but she guessed that either TwoFace or Penguin had yet to be incarcerated so there weren't any gang wars at the moment.

Sticking close up she wondered around and studied the old buildings. Emily didn't dare peak inside but she could feel hundreds of eye on her, the people inside she compared the to the homeless living in the Gotham streets, not all of them bad, just trying to survive. Doors swung open and close with the gentlest of winds creaking and rattling, she moved towards one of the apartment buildings and looked around for something heavy. In her hands she picked up five bricks from a pile of rubble then wedged them against a door and from the corner of her eye caught a small glow of red and green. The Baudelaire flower shop.

Emily approached the boarded up shop and kept glancing behind her to make sure that the team and Cash weren't watching her. All you could see through the broken window were vines thick and thin, tangled up and no space to move around in. She knew the story of the Baudelaire flower store but Emily wanted to witness it for herself.

One last quick glance at the medical team, she lightly brushed the rough green leaf with her finger tips and felt the buzz of a memory begging to perform for her. Placing her other hand on a large vine to get a better connection, she closed her eyes and opened her first memory in Arkham City. As she began to access the memory it felt like television static was itching behind her eyes then within a few moments it cleared away and revealed new surroundings.

The shop was a lot smaller than Emily expected, everywhere you turned you were greeted with the colour green with hints of flowery reds, blues and pinks. The scents of every exotic flower and house plant were strong and overpowered Emily almost making her lose control of the memory, it even began to make her eyes water.

In front of her Pamela sat behind the counter her eyes glued to the floor, her arms were crossed but Emily noticed that she was digging her fingernails into her skin. It was completely silent and although Emily wasn't physically there she felt that is she made any noise at all it would shatter the tension in the shop into pieces. There was a unpleasant ding of the shop door bell and a gentlemen walked through, Emily stepped aside to let him pass even though she was sure that the man would have just walked through her like a ghost.

"Excuse me? I'm looking for a nice bouquet of flowers for my wife...something romantic?" asked the customer, each word he spoke was heavy with guilt. At first Pamela didn't respond to him but Emily sensed that his words had triggered something within her.

Slowly lifting her head to meet his gaze, a hard smile formed on her lips and she politely replied, "Just one moment sir." Pamela then went into the back of the shop and a few minutes later returned carrying a huge bunch of red and white roses with ivy dripping down the sides. She handed them over to the customer, "Will these do, sir?"

"Oh yes! They look perfect" he carefully took them from Pamela's hands to admire the roses up close, "How much do I owe?"

"You owe me your life!" Pamela cried out and suddenly the ivy grew at intense speed up his arms. He started to scream but as the ivy wrapped itself around his throat and tighten, the thorns from the roses dug into his hands piercing his flesh all the way through to the bone. Pamela seemed to float in mid air as her skin returned to it's green colour, her hair broke free of its band and turned a darker crimson then finally her eyes flashed green. The smile she had on her face looked like relief, as if she had wanted to let go for a long time.

The man was barely alive now, he was on the floor unable to move with eyes wide with horror and tears running down his cheeks that splashed on to the flowers that were getting closer to him for complete suffocation.

Pamela petted her vines with care and gave a sweet sigh, "I feel so much better." Her eyes fell to the dead man and she gave a smirk then with her power watched as a variety of flowers grew out from his mouth and nose. The green lady threw her head back and laughed, she hated these meat sacks the ruined the Earth and it was so enjoyable punishing them.

Pamela Isley was gone. Poison Ivy was back.

Ivy simply stepped over the body and bashed down the door with her plants. Emily couldn't see what was going on outside but she heard screams, sirens and cars crashing into other objects and vehicles, chaos began very quickly in Gotham.

Deciding that she has seen enough Emily let go of the memory and returned to her state only to find herself being shaken furiously by a worried looking Cash.

"Hey! Stop it Cash I'm alright!"

"Oh thank God!" he grabbed her by the shoulders "What happened? Why didn't you answer me?!"

Emily wasn't sure how to answer him, she opened her mouth before deciding if she should tell the truth or lie "Cash I..." _Say something!_

"Spit it out Emily!" Cash demanded.

"I've got magical powers!"


	5. Park Row Riddling

"So let me get this straight. You can watch memories absorbed by objects?"

They were back in the office at the church so that no one else could hear the conversation. Emily crossed her arms and stared at the concrete floor as she thought about her answer.

For the first fifteen minutes Emily had been explaining to Cash about her abilities, she told him that back in the asylum she had watched Killer Croc kill and eat two guards by touching the cage bars and she she had recovered her first encounter with Poison Ivy.

"Can you do anything else?" he asked.

"Well you know I can run faster than the average person, I can slow down time as well, um, I can heal pretty quickly too...and that's all I've discovered so far."

"Why did you never tell me Emily?" he looked deeply hurt.

She dropped her eyes to the floor and shrugged "I didn't think it was that important."

Cash had treated Emily as if she was his own daughter, he always tried to make her feel that she could go to him about anything. "Did you tell anyone about your abilities?"

If she told him the full truth it would just crush his heart more, from the start of her Arkham journey the Joker knew that she had powers and Emily was sure that other people had witnessed her using them. She kept her answer short,"A few people know."

"I bet I can guess who." he vocalized his thoughts as though he was the only one in the room.

Emily felt as is she had been thrown into the ocean and that guilt was tied around her ankles making her sink deeper to the bottom. "I'm sorry Cash" she apologized but it came out as a whisper.

"I'm sorry" she repeated looking him straight in the eyes "I didn't think it was a big deal...I should have told you."

Cash didn't have anything else to ask, he was deep in thought trying to find anything in his memories where he might of noticed her use her power. He sighed unsure of what to say next, he told her to go see if any of the doctors or guards needed help and warned her that the conversation was far from over.

The doctors had a few patients but she helped with bandaging and cleaning wounds, everything was quiet save from the occasional announcements on the radio. Emily spent the rest of her time stacking away bibles and making coffee for everyone, the church was freezing so the warm drink made her feel like she was in a relaxing bath forgetting about the troubles outside the building doors.

Refilling the Doctors coffee for the third time she made her way round the guards who had been eavesdropping on her conversation with Cash, they hid their curious stares behind polite smiles and thanked her for the drink. As soon as Emily turned away she heard them begin whispering theories about her and tried not to get upset, she felt that most of them were comparing her power to the likes of Poison Ivy and other villains who had unexplained supernatural-like talents.

With a sigh she spotted Eddie sitting by the radio listening out for anything important, approaching him she wore a smile and pretended that nothing was bothering her, "Hey Eddie, anything fresh?" she asked as she refilled his cup.

"Nah, nothing interesting, just the usual reports. Riddler's been spray painting question marks on the walls again, but that's about it."

Emily noticed that he answered her plainly, whenever she had asked him "what's fresh?" before he'd always cheekily answer either 'bread' or 'water' but not this time, he didn't even make eye contact with her. Emily's head sank down to the floor as a spasm of hurt burst within her, apart from Cash he was the only one she was close to and now Eddie was treating her in the same way as the others. Taking the hint she moved to a quiet corner and tried to breathe slowly and get rid of the stress but the gossiping made her feel uncomfortable and she believed that everyone was highly overreacting.

"I need some air" she said out loud and quickly walked to the doors aware that everyone was staring at her. Outside the air was cold and nippy, the wind blew her hair about like she was in some sort of shampoo commercial so she zipped up her coat and pulled up the hood and decided to go for a walk. Stepping through the old rusty black gate, she had the urge to be childish and stuck her middle finger up at the church then made her way down the street.

It was around four in the afternoon and Park Row was quiet, when she'd come across a few inmates she'd move around them to avoid attracting their attention. When twenty minutes had went by she stopped to take in her surroundings, the buildings around her looked as if they were weeping, the tones of this part of the city were black, grey and dark blue but from the corner of her eye she saw a splash of green and decided to investigate.

Painted on the wall were three huge question marks surrounded by smaller ones, beneath was a long rectangular cage that went round the corner and attached to it was an electricity box. At the far end a Riddler trophy flickered a couple of times then shone brightly without any interruptions. The electricity box hummed its constant droning made her feel less tense and it helped clear her head. They were being unfair towards her and her abilities were her own business and no one else's, she turned in the opposite direction and made her way to Riddler's lair.

Riddler's hideout was located in the Bowery in the south-western part of the city, just north of the museum. As far as she could remember the entrance to his lair was to the west and near Arkham City's border wall between Gotham. Emily hadn't came across anymore of his puzzles save for the ones that Batman would have to scan in, if he was wandering around the city getting his traps and tricks ready by himself then he had a lot of work to do.

Sneaking her way through the city she jumped down from the higher level and landed on her knees then fell over.

 _Thank God no one saw that_ , she thought.

The power to the electric fence had yet to be switched on, she climbed up quickly and used the wooden boxes on the other side to climb down carefully, then opened the door and entered.

The green light made everything look more damp and disgusting, clumps of walls had fallen off and the chequered floor was missing many tiles. In the game Batman couldn't enter through the door as dynamite was rigged to it but luckily for Emily it hadn't been attached yet. Slipping quietly inside Emily scanned the large room, there were a lot of separate area's and it made her wonder what the building had been used for before the Riddler got his hands on it. Her first thought was that it could have been a Haunted House experience because of the tracks on the floor but she realized how silly that sounded.

Crouching silently around corners so not to startle him if he happened to spot her Emily found the staircase which lead up to the main office. Inside the Riddler stood by a table, his tools were spread out and a trophy was near completion, she watched him hold a screw in place and twist it with the screwdriver in the wrong direction.

Standing upwards she cautiously walked towards him, "Mr Riddler?"

The first thing that was thrown at her was a cracked coffee mug that Emily easily dodged, the next a keyboard was flying through the air which almost hit her but she slowed down time and it missed. A third object came, a white water jug that she managed to block with her arm, he panicked when his hands couldn't find anything else so he made a run for his question mark cane.

"STOP! I'm here to help you!"

"Who are you?!" he shouted holding the cane out in front of him ready to take a swing if she stepped closer.

"My name is Emily Rogers, we've met before do you remember? I was called Filly."

His expression softened slightly as he recalled the memory of when he had met her years ago, the little girl who had helped him almost escape. Edward gave her a curious look and took a step towards her half of his face now in complete shadow "What do you want?"

"I...I noticed that you have...little cage things dotted around the city and, um, I thought that if you had trophies I could help out and put them in places for you..."

The villain looked worn out as if he hadn't slept in days and that was likely the case, although he wasn't the sort of person to ask for help with his toys and inventions he really needed a hand or two.

"How did you know I was here!? I, the Riddler, made sure that my location was secret to everyone!" he bellowed. Emily disguised her small laugh as a hiccup, she had forgotten that he often referred to himself in third person and it made her chuckle.

"I saw you paint question marks so I followed you" she lied, there was no way she could explain the real reason she knew! He pondered for a moment for two before speaking again.

"A test first! Answer this riddle and I'll consider your help" he told her, "I am the beginning of the end, and the end of time and space. I am essential to creation, and I surround every place. What am I?"

Emily bit her lip to hold in a smile as she knew the riddle, it was rather easy but she took a couple of moments to pretend that she was figuring out the answer.

"It's the letter E." she answered.

Riddler leaned on the table, folded his arms tightly and peered at her over his glasses as he thought about what he'd have her do. Emily noticed that his fingers and arms were covered with tiny scars and bruises and it made her wonder if his failed contraptions had did that to him. Riddler spun around and headed to the corner of his office and dragged a large cardboard box into the center of the room, inside contained completed trophies.

"Here. Some of these go into cages and some don't" he handed over a bag and a map of the city. The rucksack could fit in seven green question mark trophies and nothing more. Throwing it over her shoulder she looked at the locations dotted on the map and picked the easiest routes first.

"Oh, and you'll need this" he tossed a key to her which she smoothly caught and stuffed in her pocket, "You'll need it to open up the cages."

She nodded, "I'll be back shortly."

Racing out of the door Emily decided to focus on the Park Row locations just in case anyone in the church started looking for her she'd be close by. Inmates were starting to come out from wherever they had been living and formed many groups of up to eight men. It was hard to get around most of them, there were only so many short cuts she could take to avoid them sooner or later her luck would run out.

When she returned to the church she walked around to the other side and studied the wall to find the safest way possible to climb up, she wished she had a gadget like the BatClaw but for the time being she'd have to settle with just using her hands. Feeling confident Emily managed to place her hands and feet into missing brick holes and managed to get over the edge then run up the roof slates where she found the Riddler cage sitting in the middle. Slotting the key into the cage like contraption, it opened up with a mechanical squeak and the green neon light dimmed. Emily carefully dropped in the trophy then twisted it about until it hooked itself into place, she then pulled out the key and it closed back up again.

"How did he even get up here?" she said to herself.

Scoring off the question mark on the map Emily picked the next location to go to, slipped the backpack on her shoulders and headed for the next Riddler cage. Sprinting up the metal flight of stairs at the side of the building she found the cage easily and repeated what she did before. Scoring it off the map she stopped and took a view of the city.

In the distance Gotham was but a golden blur of smog and street lights it was such a contrast to the dark and sinister walls of the prison city. A lot of the buildings in Arkham City were all closely connected and joined together and although Emily wasn't claustrophobic it gave her a feeling of suffocating. Breathing in and out deeply she shook off the feeling and began searching for her next location, it took her a while to figure out how to reach the top but she managed eventually. Emily remembered this puzzle in particular because you would have to glide to a good height then drop down hard on the pressure plate to get the trophy, it was one of her favourites.

After two hours she was down to the last two trophies, she decided not to hide the last ones in the Church she'd have to get them another time. One of them went underneath a car she hoped that the inmates wouldn't try and steal it, and the last one went into another cage.

The sky was bleeding oranges, reds and yellows like a watercolour sunset, the evening was drawing in so she made her way back to the Riddler. She was happy that she got a small chance to explore the corners of Park Row alone, climbing buildings didn't worry as much as they did before.

When she was a few feet away from the villains lair from the corner of her eye she spotted a large goon dressed in camouflage trousers and a grey overall jacket with a white penguin symbol on the sleeve, he carried a baseball bat that he swung back and forth ready to whack someone with it. Emily pulled a frustrated face, out of every single villain in Batman universe Penguin was the one she hated the most, his croaky cockney accent made her skin crawl even the thought of it made her squirm, if she ever were to have an encounter with him she hoped it would be brief.

The Riddler was waiting impatiently, he was leaning awkwardly on the table and his left hand sat on it his fingers drumming away. "What took you so long?!"

She dropped the empty bag at his feet "Sorry, I had a lot of climbing to do."

He rolled his eyes and waved his hand at her excuse.

"Have another riddle for me?" she asked cheerfully trying not to get on his bad side.

The Riddler screwed up his face and pinched his chin, "What starts with the letter 'T', is filled with 'T' and ends in 'T'?"

She took a moment and repeated the riddle to herself before proudly answering: "Teapot."

He mockingly clapped his hands "Well done, you solved a simple riddle, I hope you hold on to that sense of achievement." For a moment Emily wondered if he had purposely given her another simple one just to make a sarcastic comment but she shrugged it off and didn't take it personally.

"Leave," he turned away and went back to work on the trophy "Be back tomorrow night, I'll have more of them completed for you."

"Alright, well, I'll see you tomorrow then. Goodnight."

"Goodbye" he said not looking up from his trophy, she opened the door to leave and heard him curse when he burned himself on the green bulb. She made a mental note to bring him plasters and bandages.

 _Well that went better than expected_ , she thought. As she made her way back to her apartment Emily replayed the memory of her first encounter with him, she had been a child and manipulated into helping him escape but they failed. She decided that for the time being not to mention it to him, she'd wait until they had some sort of friendship if he was capable of that then try and talk about the past.

Outside the door of her flat covered in a sheet was a crate, it was heavy and hard to get into her home and trying to crack it open was difficult as well. The crate was filled with basic food and other materials, bread, milk and pasta, toilet paper, washing powder and sanitary towels, she gave a sigh of relief as she thought that she would have had to go scouting out abandoned shops to find some of the items in the box.

Looking through all the contents of the box it was clear she was going to be living like a student for the next few months, it would be paste breakfast, lunch and dinner. Eating the tasteless meal she finished up and felt all the aches in her arms and legs, the hot water had gone off but she dampened a cloth and cleaned herself up and slipped into bed.

It didn't take long for her to fall into a peaceful sleep, she dreamed of her younger self having a birthday party at the asylum, she sat at the front of a long table that was covered in a bright baby blue table cloth with white fluffy clouds on it. On the table sat plates of delicious food and fancy decorations, Cash was sitting on her left and was wearing a ridiculous party hat, next to him was Batman who looked just as brooding as ever. A large piece of cake appeared in front of her, it was filled with white frosting and strawberry jam and the sponge was a mixture of swirling colours, she eagerly dug her fork into it and was about to take a bite until she realized she had other guests.

On the right side of the table sitting the opposite from Cash was Jeremiah Arkham and next to him was the Joker who was wearing a red clowns nose and giggling.

In front of each of them was a present, Cash's present was wrapped in blue, Batman's in black, Jeremiah's was red and the Jokers was wrapped in green with a pretty purple ribbon. The room got darker and she replaced her younger self at the top of the table, Cash pushed his present forward first and suddenly everything went icy cold.

With a trembling hand Emily peeled off the wrapping paper, opened the box and nervously looked inside. There was a hand inside the box covered in blood and the skin was ripped to shreds, a sickening lump was stuck in her throat as she sat back in the chair and her eyes trailed down to Cash's hook. Batman gave his present next, there wasn't anything horrific inside instead she found what looked to be a black suit and extra items and a white piece of paper which appeared to have instructions on it. Jeremiah slid his gift slowly along the table and met Emily's glare, she snapped it away from him then cautiously peeked in.

There was more blood, old and fresh, the item was a long beautiful silver knife and engraved along it were roses, the handle was white but she couldn't tell what it was made from but they were two initials on it: A.A. The Joker picked up his present and moved to her side, he placed his hand on her shoulder and looked very excited for her to open it.

"You're going to love it!" the clown ensured her.

Emily gave him a shaky smile, she ripped the bow off and tore off the paper, she was scared to lift up the lid as she wasn't sure if he'd give her something nice or something dreadful. Emily put her hand in first and came into contact with something furry, her eyes shut tight for a moment as she pictured herself pulling out a dead animal, but to her surprise and delight Emily had her old soft toy horse she had seen in memories in her hands.

She stroked it's mane and fixed the fur that stuck out "Thank you, Joker." Holding it tightly to her chest she examined what the others gave her and tried to make some sort of sense out of them.

A hand, a suit, a bloody knife and a toy horse.

The harder she tried to make a connection between the four items the more the scene slipped away from sight, she awoke from the strange dream twisted in her bed sheets and outside the sky was still dark she guessed that it was around five in the morning. Stretching her limbs she went into the bathroom to splash her face and wash out her mouth, there was now warm water so she ran the shower and spent her time thinking about the dream.

_Are they memories to unlock? Is it about the past? Is it to do with the future...no, it can't be that._

She thought until her hands and fingers became crinkled and decided to let go of the dream for the time being, the sun wouldn't be in the sky for another hour so she took her time getting ready. There wasn't much in her wardrobe at all, an old pair of jeans, a white shirt and an old pair of black trainers but Emily wasn't one for fashion so she didn't mind the moth holes or the mud that stained the hem's of the jeans.

When it turned eight o'clock Emily left her apartment to head to the church but was stopped at the front door where she came face to face with Cash.

_Time to finish our conversation._


	6. Little Miss Trouble

Aaron stepped into her apartment his eyes scanning the kitchen and then to the living room. Emily offered to make him a cup of tea but as she boiled the kettle she realized she had no milk or teabags. This was going to be their fourth time having a private chat and Emily wasn't in the mood to deal with it, she had told him everything she knew about her skills and had nothing more to say about them.

Cash took a good look around her flat inspecting cupboards, the fridge, bathroom and her bedroom. She wondered what he was searching for but was too nervous to ask him so she silently waited until he finished his inspection then spoke. "Where did you go yesterday?"

"For a walk" she answered a bit too quickly, "Cash, what's wrong?"

He leaned on the back of the sofa and for a long moment the room was silent. Cash folded his arms tightly and nothing in his face changed. He could have been a stone sculpture. But then, deliberately, he seemed to relax, he unfolded his arms and spoke gently.

"Emily, after what you told me yesterday I've been thinking..." he paused as if he were trying to remember the lines of a movie script, "I've seen and went through a lot of shit in that asylum. I've lost friends, been tricked into doing awful things and failed to protect people but I managed to overcome it all thanks to you and Batman."

Emily was more than a little confused as she wasn't sure where he was going with this but she remained quiet and let him continue.

"But I'm getting a funny feeling that I'm being tricked and manipulated again," he voice started to go lower "I know that you've seen the clown and now...I don't know if I can trust you anymore."

Her eyes widened as his words settled in. Her voice came out as a whisper as she failed to stop her eyes from watering. "I'm not a bad guy Cash."

He held up his hook. "Prove it to me." he told her and outstretched his arm.

"You can't...ask me to do...that Cash." she hiccuped as she tried to control her breathing.

"You misunderstood me Emily, I wasn't asking."

Stretching his arm out further he waited patiently for her response. Emily reluctantly lifted her hand from her side and grasped hold of the hook which was icy to the touch. The memory was buzzing on her on her fingertips and she hesitated for a moment to give Cash a pleading look begging him to change his mind but the security guard remained silent and waited for her to begin.

She shut her eyes and concentrated on the memory letting it sink into her mind. When she opened her eyes again a strong blue light blinded her almost making her lose connection. After a few moments adjusting to the light that came from a blank television screen she breathed a sigh of relief as found herself in a living room and not in the asylum. The place looked as if it hadn't seen a vacuum cleaner or a duster in weeks.

At first glance Emily noticed empty cartons of Chinese food stacked on a circular table and at least seven trash bags sitting in a corner ready to taken outside. Aaron Cash sat on the sofa staring at the screen as if something was on it but his mind was wandering but his eyes were hard and showed no signs of becoming softer. Stepping out from the corner she cautiously moved around the furniture as before whenever she looked into a memory she stayed in the once place. She came across a pile of letters, the dates went back a couple of months, some of them were bills but most were from the asylum.

Over on the sofa was a pile of clothes that clung on to it for dear life and empty glasses and bottles were sitting uncoordinated on the small coffee table. She took a seat on the sofa, her elbows leaning on her knees and hands clasped together she watched Aaron for several minutes. She wished she knew what he was thinking, Aaron wasn't the silent type and it upset her to see him so distant.

The phone began to ring, his eyes glance at it but he made no move to answer it.

It rang three more times then Cash's recorded voice spoke. "I'm not in leave a message."

The voice that followed next sounded calm but there was a firm tone behind it.

"Aaron, I know you're there. This is Quincy Sharp. Aaron it's time to get back on the horse. The institution needs you. In your absence we've already had three escapes: Freeze, Clayface and Jane Doe. It's...well, it's intolerable that's what it is. So I leave it to you, Mr Cash...You can sit there and be a cripple...or return to a job where it's socially acceptable to cripple others."

The voice message ended with a strict smack of the receiver being slammed down. She watched for Cash's reaction but his face didn't change as he spoke a few seconds later: "You silver-tongued bastard. You had me at Clayface."

Then suddenly the scene before her moved quickly like a time lapse photo, the living room was cleaned up and the sun shone through the window putting life back into the place. Aaron came rushing out of his room cursing for having slept but he had quickly changed into his uniform then strapped in his hook. He held it in his hand and rubbed away a mark with his thumb before adjusting his tie and throwing on his coat, he then proceeded to walk up to the television and look at the photo frames surrounding it.

He picked up the photo of his wife and little boy and wiped away the collecting dust then set it back down and did the same with the second. In this frame was a picture of Emily as a child celebrating her birthday and tucked in the corner was a smaller portrait of her when she was a teenager. And as Aaron left his home to return to the asylum the memory melted away and she was back in her apartment still clutching on to the hook.

Her arms instantly wrapped themselves around Cash giving him the tightest hug she could. "I'm so sorry Cash! I love you." she sobbed gently into his armour. "I'd never hurt or trick you, I promise."

Cash returned the hug and breathed a sigh of comfort and relief. "I love you too, sweetpea. I know you wouldn't."

They held the embrace for a few moments more until Aaron lightly pushed Emily away by the shoulders, he went into his pocket and pulled out a tissue and handed it over.

"I understand how you feel Cash" she said then blew her nose into the tissue, "But I've grown up with these people and I've survived this long. I can take care of myself." Aaron didn't look convinced. He opened his mouth to say something but couldn't find the words to argue with her.

"I'm not planning on getting myself into bother with anyone and I can sneak around and avoid the inmates. And I've only seen the Joker once, I don't plan on visiting him again any time soon."

"What did you do when you left the church last night?" he questioned her.

"I...I was helping the Riddler with his trophies." she admitted. His face screwed up at the mention of the villain then said some sort of insult that Emily didn't catch.

"I know that it looks and sounds bad but..." she tried to explain, "I'm just doing it to-" Aaron interrupted her by raising his hand.

"Emily stop, it's alright." he said with a steady voice "Well it's not but I won't stop you no matter how much I want to and I know you can look after yourself and hold your own in a fight. And I can't keep you stitched to my side forever."

"Thank you Cash." she went to give him another hug and he pointed his finger strictly at her.

"But you must check in on that walkie-talkie regularly! Alright? And if you die I'm gonna be real pissed."

The two of them shook hands then proceed to go to the church, the medical team welcomed her back happily and offered apologizes for their stupid behavior towards her the other night. It was a quiet day not many inmates came in with causalities, she had ended up playing cards with everyone and teaching Eddie how to play chords on the organ.

As the evening began to draw in Emily had one last discussion with Cash to make sure that he was alright, he gave her a hug and reminded her about checking in once and while then was walked back to her apartment.

Once Emily arrived back she decided that she'd visit the Riddler again and made some sandwiches for him in hopes that it would keep her on the villains good side. Her mind kept wondering about the villains in the city she had yet to meet like Twoface, Penguin, Mr Freeze, Catwoman and Hush but there also so many others that she didn't wish to come across. Living in Park Row she'd occasionally hear the Twoface goons talk about their boss or about things they did outside the prison bars, the stories would get more and more ridiculous every time she listened in.

When she arrived at Riddlers hideout Edward was already waiting for her. He scrunched up his nose at her. "You're late."

"I wasn't aware I had a time slot." she replied cheekily but he choose to ignore the comment.

"I have a different job for you today my dear, and I'm sure your going to love it." the Riddler tossed her a paintbrush and held out a paint bucket with drips of green going down the side "Paint my question marks in the area's of my trophies. And don't dilly-dally about, get them done quickly!" He put it in her hand and turned to his work station and went back to concentrating on his gadget.

"Are there no more trophies?" Emily asked as she swung the bucket back and forth.

"I did but they were sparking and glitching so I have to repair them." he replied frustratingly not looking away from the trophy he was working on. Emily shrugged her shoulders deciding that that was the end of their conversation and turned to leave but then a red light flashed overpowering the green.

Riddler's head snapped up then in a swift motion pushed his chair over to the large desk and his fingers furiously hit his keyboard as the several computer screens flashed and images of different locations were displayed. He selected one of the screens then pushed on the arrow keys and the image began to move. Edward was controlling a security camera that was fixed on the super prisons monstrous door which was beginning to open. Clicking more buttons and making computer commands the camera zoomed in on the dark figure who stepped out and he became much clearer.

He was dressed in a stained white suit and black leather gloves and from the looks of it the TYGER guards gave him a harsh beating. On one of the smaller monitors a photo popped up and beside it a list of information and in large text was the name 'Roman Sionis a.k.a Black Mask'. Roman was greeted by a few inmates who kept a few paces in front of him acting as bodyguards for the mob man. From what Emily could remember Black Mask had a bit of a temper but he seemed calm with his hands behind his back as he walked, she wondered how long it would be until he found out that his steel mill had been taken hold by the Joker then he'd be pissed.

The camera's followed them down alleyway's until they entered a building that Emily didn't recognized. Edward typed into his computer as he tagged in Black Mask's current location and then turned to Emily. "Why are you still here?" he asked with a confused expression.

She rolled her eyes at him and before turning to leave she dropped the sandwiches carefully on the table and as she walked away he heard the sound of him unwrapping cellophane.

Her plan was to go to the locations of the trophies she had sorted the other night and splash the paint about, at the first trophy area she flicked the paint brush and created a splatter effect on the wall then smoothly painted two large question marks and made sure they looked good as she thought that the Riddler might watch her through the camera's to check if she was doing a good job. It was oddly relaxing painting and it was quick. She took some time to daydream about the game and figured out that Batman wouldn't be in the city for at least a couple of months which meant that some smaller events of the city had yet to happen.

Emily reattached the lid on to the paint bucket and rushed down the metal stairs to the Riddler puzzle in the alleyway and did the same as before. She was lost in thought as she painted but a cry of fear snapped her out of her daydreams and she looked around panicking. Walking quickly but quietly she peaked round street corners trying to find the source of the cry and it didn't take her long to him.

Two men dressed in the usual prison clothing towered over a man with broken glasses. "Please...I-I'm sorry, I couldn't find any food. Oh God, p-please don't hurt me."

"Hear that Bob? He ain't got food for us." the first goon said.

The second goon chuckled darkly and softly punched his hand to look more intimidating. "Bet he's ate it all you greedy bastard."

"No! I swear, please!" begged the gentlemen as a fist collided with his face. Without thinking Emily stepped away from the corner and stormed towards them with her paint bucket at the ready.

"HEY!"

As they turned towards her green paint flew from the bucket and impacted the inmates with a hard smack. Seconds ticked by as the men stayed still for a moment letting what happened to them sink in then with a flash of rage the men cried furiously and charged at her. As they came for her, the now empty paint bucket dropped to the ground and Emily threw out a blast of her power at the men. A burst of invisible energy soared from her hand, she put all her concentration into it as it had been a long time since she had used her slow motion ability.

A look of confusion came across the men's faces as they suddenly froze unable to move. The victim still lying on the ground glanced from Emily to the goons back to her too afraid to move.

"Run!" she shouted at the man who immediately broke off his fear and scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as he could down the alley. She watched him run until he disappeared then turned her attention back to the inmates you were still being held in place. Emily began running back in the direction she came from and lost the concentration on her power. The men were behind her shouting things that she couldn't make out as her ear drums pounded.

She had no idea where she was running too everything was a blur around her. She had promised Cash that she would stay out of trouble and that promise was already broken. So she just kept running.


	7. Meeting Mr Day

Emily had her back against the wall and stayed hidden tightly between two large dumpsters. She sunk lower to the ground as she heard the heavy footsteps of her pursuers; they halted for a moment and she chanced a quick peek of them. They argued with one another then finally chose a street to run down in search for her and as soon as she saw them leave she left her hiding place.

"Edwards not gonna be happy" she said to herself as her eyes followed the trail of green footsteps before taking off in the opposite direction.

She didn't stop running until she arrived at her apartment door. Once inside she first took a shower in which the hot water lasted for only five minutes then sat on the bed wrapped in a towel and thought about what she had done. She went through scenario's in her head where she could have acted differently then dried herself off sighing at the small damp patch on her bed.

For the rest of the night Emily huddled herself on the sofa and watched the fuzzy television until she fell asleep. When morning came she checked in with Aaron as she promised through the radio and told him that she'd be at the church within an hour then made herself a quick breakfast. Her food rations were beginning to run out so she tried to save as much as she could.

As she finished her morning meal and got dressed she left her apartment and on her way to the church something caught her attention. From the corner of her eye she spotted a pair of legs sticking out from behind a dumpster trash lying scattered around them.

"Hey Cash, I think I've spotted someone injured. I'm gonna check him out and see if he needs any help" she spoke into the walkie talkie and didn't wait for a reply.

The street was empty but she quickly scurried across the road and moved into the alley. A security camera followed her movements and its motorized sound hit her ears and she tried her best to ignore it.

"Are you alright there Mister?" she asked cautiously moving forward. The body remained still and did not reply.

She was now standing in front of the body and realized from his outfit he belonged in Twoface's gang.

Leaning in closer she could hear him snoring underneath the mask then rolled her eyes in annoyance, she lightly kicked his foot and when he didn't respond she did it a second time and still nothing. Underneath his arm hidden terribly was a box of beer bottles and most of them looked empty but she carefully pulled it away from him and found two untouched bottles.

Emily folded her arms wondering what to do with him and then a thought crossed her mind and she began to take off his coat and mask.

The mask was ugly, green and smooth on one side and deformed on the other. She placed it on her face and strapped it in at the back and was surprised by just how well it fit. The Twoface inmates outfit were also different on each side and had various straps but there was no way she'd try and take it off him, it more than likely wouldn't fit her anyway. Once in her new disguise she pocketed the two beer bottles and made her way to the courthouse.

Solomon Wayne Courthouse was close by and it only took a few minutes to get to the building, the white stone was crawling with dirt and grime and was decorated with cracks and large Twoface recruitment banners. She approached it slowly and kept her distance from the small clusters of goons and made her way to the back door of the courthouse and entered.

The floor was littered with Twoface recruitment posters and other bits of debris and the corridor smelled of rotting wood and soaked wallpaper. Above wires and pipes poked down, electricity sparked angrily and Emily hunched over slightly as she walked to try and avoid it.

From down the stairs Emily heard three individual voices so she slowed her pace to try and hear their conversation. "Can't believe we got stuck watchin' this creep."

"I still don't get it, why is this guy even here?"

"He was in this place first before the boss then Twoface threw him in the cells."

"Why'd he just not kill him?"

"Well he flips a coin dumb ass, it must of landed on the good side."

"Oh right, well, yeah I guess that does make sense."

Before the men could continue talking Emily clear her throat and turned the corner and approached them. Their heads snapped in her direction when they heard her footsteps and two of them stood ready for a fight.

"Beat it, it's my turn to watch him" Emily grumbled trying to sound masculine.

"Who the hell are you?" the goon closest to her asks.

Before she could think about it she replied. "Greg."

There was a short pause between them all. "Greg?"

"Yeah, got a problem with that of something?" she barked at him.

The two other inmates share a confused look with each other then glance at the first goon to see his reaction.

"No no, of course not, Greg" he mumbled taken aback from her tone, he then cleared his throat and tried to look aggressive as he was aware that the others were watching him.

"So Twoface said that it's your time to babysit this guy?" he questioned.

"That's what he ordered me to do" she lied.

The first goon pulled a frown then turned to the second, "You better check with the boss."

"What? Why me?!" burst out the second goon who glared back at him.

"I wouldn't bother him if I were you," she told him before anything kicked off, "He's not in a good mood, he flipped his wee coin and shot Benny straight through the head."

"Who's Benny?"

"Well he's now a dead man with a hole in his head."

They all looked at her nervously but wasn't sure if they were all completely convinced. She pulled out one of the two beer bottles from her jacket pocket and waved it at them. "I'll give you this if you piss off and let me do my job."

When they saw the bottle all of their eyes grew wide and were fixed on the bottle like a dog begging for a treat.

She smiled behind the mask and held it out to them and as one of the goons reached to grab it she pulled her arm back quickly. "Don't forget to share."

The bottle was carefully tossed towards them and the second goon easily caught it and rushed to the stairs followed by the others. Emily heard them argue as they ran up the stairs then heard the door shut with a bellowing slam and she was now finally alone.

Emily pulled out a chair and sat at the small table but kept on the mask and coat. It felt like the jacket was swallowing her up and it didn't make her look like one of the crowd at all. She studied the large Sionis calendar on the wall, no days had been circled red yet.

Julian was softly muttering the poem of months to himself sitting on a bed hunched over with his hands clasped together. He had been listening into the conversation and when he looked up he found her appearance mildly amusing.

"You're awfully thin for a henchmen." Julian commented dragging Emily away from the calendar.

Emily smirked and tried to cross her arms but the bulk of the jacket stopped her from doing it. With a sigh she took off the mask and set it on the table then threw a smile at Calendar Man and tried to get comfortable in the chair.

"You're right about that, sir" she chuckled.

There was a silent pause then realization crossed his face, "You're the girl from the asylum."

She grinned pleased that he remembered her, "I thought I'd re-introduce myself since the first time we met it ended badly. Hello Mr. Day, my name is Emily."

He leaned closer to the glass to get a better look at her and Emily did the same. The cell was decorated with paper dates like his cell at the asylum, there was a bookcase with a broken shelf and a pile of books on the floor and a locker with a dented door. The bed he sat on was flat and the mattress thin and the duvet was grey and old.

Julian was a heavily overweight man with a thick meaty face, his head was bald and around it the months were tattooed in red but it looked as if someone had brutally stamped them and left some scars. His leg was in a brace and he wore a platform shoe, he wore a white shirt and on top his orange jumpsuit was a tight fit and could only fasten one buckle.

"The last time I saw you was on your birthday, 19th of June 1987, which was a Thursday. Correct, yes?"

"Yeah, it was my eighth birthday. Can't believe its been ten years" she said cheerfully with a polite smile.

"What can I do for you my dear?" he asked simply and his tone sounded somewhat interested.

"Well Mr. Day, I am part of the medical team here in the prison and I wanted to come and check up on you. Unfortunately I can't let you out of here, there's no way I'd be able to get the key and even if I asked Twoface very nicely I don't think he'd hand it over" she paused for a moment to see if he would comment or ask questions. 

"The Twoface henchmen aren't great company. They often dangle candy bars or whatever scrap they have in front of the glass and taunt me."   

"Well what I can offer you is fresh water and some food..." she cringed a little as she realized that she sounded a bit like a door to door salesmen, "And also some medicine, toiletries and maybe some reading or writing material?" 

Calendar Man raised his eyebrow, "You can get me this?"

"Yes I can sir."

He scoffed at her and his eyes lit up in amusement. "Really? I find that hard to believe. Scavenging all by yourself and you'll end up getting killed or worse."

After a short pause he gave a loud sigh and his heavy whispered voice spoke out, "Leave me alone child, I will survive in this cesspool of a prison so don't you worry your pretty little head about me."

Emily opened her mouth to reply but no words came out. Julian went back to reciting the poem of months while staring at the floor ignoring her completely. She bit her lip and pondered on ways on how to convince him that he needed her help, she placed her hands in her pockets and a smile grew on her when she came up with an idea.

Taking the second bottle of beer from her pocket she bent down and rolled it through the small rectangle slot at the bottom of the door. It bounced off of his shoe then rested on a pile of paper, he instantly reached for it and pulled off the cork and took a giant gulp of it.  He downed more of the beer in two big swallows some of it ran down like a river from the corner of his mouth, he then came back for breath with a relieved smile on his face, it must of been weeks since he had a good drink like that.

"Feel better?" she asked with a triumphant smirk. 

Julian gave a hearty chuckle and lifted the bottle up at her like he was toasting a wedding.

"Thank you Miss Emily I may have misjudged you," he bowed his head at her then slouched against the wall, "I was wrong, I do need some help. I look forward for your next visit."  

"I'll come back later this evening with a few things for you" she promised. 

She zipped up the coat and slipped on the Twoface mask and headed upstairs with an accomplished bounce in her steps.

As she exited through the back door she heard something crack and looking down saw smashed green glass at her feet. The ground was wet and alcoholic fumes touched her nose bringing on a sneeze and made her eyes water, she has no idea that booze could be that strong. 

Two unconscious bodies lay on the concrete ground faces pointing up towards the sky. Blood ran from their nose and mouths and with a closer look they had even lost a couple of teeth.

"Bloody idiots."

Cash came through on the walkie talkie asking her where she was just as she walked through the church doors. The day went by quickly, patching up the inmates and playing cards to pass the time, she managed to gather some of the supplies and tucked them away in the hidden compartments of the over sized jacket. 

It was half ten before she returned to the Courthouse, there were no Twoface goons watching him which she was thankful for. She past through to him a bottle of water, half packet of dry crackers, a chocolate biscuit, a banana and two small packets of tissues.

"I'll see what I can gather tomorrow for you but if you can try to make these last, oh and keep them out of sight from the Twoface crew if they come back down here."

She got back to her apartment quickly and settled into her sofa and flicked on the television, a late night game show with panels of comedians grabbed her attention but was hard to watch through the static. Emily was proud of what she had done today, she felt smart for deceiving the goons and she was pleased that she had a disguise to get around them.

An hour later she switched off the TV and got ready for bed, she had just got comfortable until someone banged repetitively on her front door.


	8. Fetch Quest

The clock on the wall had just ticked over to 1 am but the city was still alive. She approached the door slowly keeping quiet, her heart beat thumping in time with the banging. She listened out for voices and heard a series of grunts and heavy sighs, whoever was outside the door were getting impatient. The banging started to get more violent so she cautiously peeked through the spy hole to see her visitor.

On the other side of the door was a large thug, who was almost as tall as the door, wearing a clown mask and beside him with her hands on her hips and a pout on her lips was Harley Quinn.

Emily sighed. She should have felt ecstatic to see the clown princess but her body craved sleep and she wasn't in the mood for entertaining. Holding her breath she watched them and silently prayed for them to leave but after one minute they still hadn't moved.

"Filly are you in there?!" she called out. There was a short pause and then the henchman turned to Harley.

"Want me to knock it down?" asked the goon cracking his knuckles.

Before Harley gave him an order Emily growled through her teeth and shouted, "I'll be one moment, hang on!"

She rolled her eyes in annoyance and reluctantly changed into casual clothes and tied up her hair. With a quick glance in the mirror she decided that she looked presentable then practised a cheerful smile to disguise her mood. She rushed over to the door just as Harley called out for her again then opened it with a playful flourish.

"Hello there! Welcome to my abode, please wipe your feet before you come in" she laughed then immediately realized how stupid she sounded. It had sounded a lot funnier in her head.

Harley giggled and skipped inside, "Stay outside Meatfist, I need some girl time with Filly here."

Emily awkwardly shut the door on the goon who looked disappointed that he didn't get to break something. She wondered if he liked getting called that and if he missed his real name. Emily turned to properly greet her guest but before she could say a word Harley lifted off her feet in a tight hug and spun her around three times and then propped back on the floor. The jester sighed happily and placed a hand on Emily's cheek lovingly which brought Emily out of her dizziness.

"Hey sweetie. Sorry I missed you the other day when you visited Mistah J. I've had my hands full recently, been really busy with uh, some things," she walked into the living room and took a quick look around, "Nice place you got here doll."

"Thanks" Emily smiled.

"Could use a bit of colour though."

Emily was about to argue but Harley was right, the place was dull, some colour would put a bit of life back into the apartment. "But I'm not here to talk about your style choices. I came to see my favourite girl and catch up."

Harley flopped herself on to the sofa then softly patted the seat next to her and Emily joined her.

 _The style wasn't my choice_ , she thought sulkily but kept her smile for Harley maintained.

They chatted for an hour. Harley asked her about what her life outside of the asylum was like and she tried to answer as best as she could. Halfway through the conversation Emily realized that the villain was trying her hardest not to bring up the Joker and that she was waiting for the right opportunity to. Emily filled her in on her experience with Hugo Strange and that she'd been helping the medical team but didn't mention anything about meeting Calendar Man or the Riddler.

"Can I offer you a drink? I mean, I've only got water but-"

"I'm fine thanks," Harley interrupted, "The medical team eh? Look Filly there's something I need to ask you. I need a teeny-tiny favour."

"Oh?" Emily raised her eyebrow, realizing that this heart to heart had another agenda to it.

She shifted her whole body to face Emily, her usual overly confident demeanour had dropped and her expression turned serious.

"I dunno if you've heard but Mr J isn't really feeling very well, he's ah, got a nasty cold," she lied.

As Emily listened she got a better look at Harley. The siren wore her Arkham City outfit, she still had her curves but looked a lot thinner, the make-up covering her face had been applied heavily to hide away the bags underneath her eyes and there were small smudges of dirt along her arms and neck.

Underneath the smile and make-up she was exhausted, looking after the Joker and keeping the goons in line and on top of that trying to find a cure was taking its toll. Emily was impressed that Harley managed to hide her struggles.

"And I've tried everything to make him feel better. _I mean everything_ ," she suggestively rolled her eyes and continued, "So what I'm asking is, can you to get me some medicine from your doctor buddies."

"They wouldn't give you any?"

"Well to tell you the truth Filly your friends are a bit scared of me and Officer Cash," she pulled a face as she spoke his name, "Someone's gotta teach him some manners."

Emily opened her mouth but decided to hold back her comment and mentally rolled her eyes instead. "I won't be able to get much, we're beginning to run out of supplies but I'll gather what I can for you."

Harley leaned over and planted a hard kiss on her cheek and left some remains of her lipstick. Her blue eyes beamed into Emily's and her usual clown self returned. "Thank you Filly! I knew I could count on you."

"You're welcome Harley," she replied politely but Emily had the feeling that she'd be doing a lot of fetch quests in this city. "Happy to help."

"Well I better get back and check on Mr J, see if he's feeling better. I'll send Meatfist round tomorrow night to collect, doll."

She stood up and lightly brushed herself off then tossed her ponytails back and pranced towards the door. "Come visit us soon! I'd love to give you the grand tour!"

"Thanks for stopping by, it was nice to see you. Oh and by the way, can you just call me Emily from now on? I've kinda out grown the nickname now if you don't mind."

Harley looked back at her over her shoulder and giggled. "You should really keep it, makes you even more cuter" she winked, waved her goodbye and then left the apartment.

As soon as the door shut Emily twisted the key and locked it then pressed her back against the door and slid to the floor. She only meant to sit there for a moment but she shut her eyes and when she opened them again it was quarter to seven in the morning. Her limbs were stiff and her back ached, she heard her bones crack as she grabbed hold of the kitchen counter to pull herself up.

She checked the fridge for food even though she knew there was nothing inside for breakfast. She switched on the shower then lay in the bathtub and shut her eyes and tried not to fall back asleep. The water didn't stay warm for long but she felt better. Once out of the shower she picked up her clothes and noticed some small green paint stains.

"Ahh damn" she cursed and threw her clothes into the laundry basket. She'd have to go see him first. He had more than likely saw the whole thing through the security cameras. When she arrived he was scribbling down notes and tweaking his trophies, piece of paper with diagrams and calculations littered the floor and she tried her best not to step on any of them.

Edward caught her reflection on the computer screens and spun around with a screwdriver clenched in his fist. "Oh so you finally decided to show up then!"

Emily raised her hands apologetically and stayed back, she wasn't keen on finding out what being stabbed with a screwdriver felt like.

"I'm really really sorry Mr Nigma. Please put down the screwdriver...I'm back now, please give me another chance."

The Riddler bit the inside of his cheeks as he tried to think. He grunted and tossed the screwdriver onto his work station then moved to his other desk, picked up a camera then walked towards her and thrust his hands forward and threw the camera at her which she easily caught.

"I need pictures of the Church and the Courthouse. I need to see every room, every cupboard, basement, any small spaces you can find. That simple enough for you?"

"Yes sir."

"Good," he paused then dramatically threw his arms in the air, "Why are you still here?! Go you stupid girl!"

She left the Riddler to tinker with his trophies and gadgets and wondered how she'd be able to get on his good side as she made her way to the church. From what she could remember he liked talking and hearing the sound of his own voice and always being the smartest one in the room.

From the audio interviews recorded in the asylum with Doctor Young he was quick to anger and would rant furiously about his father or Batman, or about how stupid the people of Gotham were.

She did notice that he seemed to hold back from her and it hurt her brain trying to figure out why. Her only guesses were that: he gave her a second chance because of their brief friendship years ago or that he didn't have anyone else and couldn't afford to lose her. Whatever the reason Emily had learnt her lesson.

She'd been living inside the prison for almost two weeks and she hadn't been in any serious peril, she was impressed by how much she had achieved without getting a scratch. Luck had been on her side but the voice in the back of her head warned her that her luck wouldn't last forever.

Her mission was to survive Arkham City and so far she had done just that, by talking and sneaking and being polite. And she'd stick to this strategy for as along as she could.

It was another quiet day in the church, the occasional inmate stumbling in for some pain killers and some stitching. The doctors asked her to fetch some supplies for the patients and her fingers managed to pocket some medicine for Harley and she hoped that it was enough. She asked Cash about getting more supplies and he tutted in response.

"Strange barely gives us anything. We'll get a few packages tomorrow donated from Bruce Wayne, thank God. This information is strictly between all of the team, Strange can't know."

Emily mimed zipping her mouth shut and winked. "Secret is safe with me."

It had been hard to hide the camera though. She got six photographs before Cash asked her where she got it and lied and said she found it in her apartment and wanted to test it out. He let her go up into the church tower to photograph the views from the top. Through the dull stain glass windows she could see Gotham Casino's and Gotham City Olympus and other parts of Amusement Mile.

The gritty urban landscape of fluorescent lights were reminders of how large and alive this part of the city used to be. She took a few snapshots and deleted two of them as a had helicopter went by twice and ruined the photo.

 _Maybe there is a way to get into Olympus, there could be some usual stuff there,_ she thought.

As the evening drew in Emily said her goodbye's and headed home, Harley's goon would be on his way to collect shortly and she wouldn't want to have him waiting. In the morning when she visited Calendar Man and delivered more supplies she'd get the Courthouse photographs for the Riddler. She treated herself to a bowl of tasteless pasta and waited, she was on her third bowl when someone knocked on her door. Peeking through the spy hole stood outside was the Joker thug from last night.

"I'm here for the medicine" he told her as he stared her down through the small holes of his clown mask.

Emily tossed a small bag and he caught it easily. "This is all I could snatch. We're getting a delivery in soon so I'll try and swipe more for Harley then."

The goon nodded in response.

"The Joker also said you were supposed to visit him again. He told me to tell you that he is deeply hurt and has broken the friendship bracelet you made for him when you were seven years old. He says if you don't come by tomorrow night he'll do something worse."

A smiled crossed her face and she let out a giggle. "You can tell him I'll be round when I can. And that he's welcome for the medicine."

"Look kid," the goon groaned roughly and lifted up his mask to look at her, "You're way too nice for this place."

Emily dropped her smile and her eyes fluttered and glazed over in puzzlement. "Excuse me?

"Just a word of advice doll face, if you keep being polite and shit, people are gonna take advantage of you and once they've had enough they'll kill you. If you want to survive in this hell, you gotta be a tough bitch."

Emily opened her mouth but her words were tangled in her throat. It was the last thing she had expected him to say. She knew that he was right, that her plan of politeness wasn't going to last but if people were going to catch onto it that quickly she'd desperately need some help. She sighed and gave a small smile to the thug.

"You goons aren't as stupid as you're made out to be."

"Yeah, not all of us are idiots," he chuckled and slid his mask back down, "Think about what I said sweets. You've got a lot of friends in high places, I'm sure they can pass on some skills to you."

"Thank for the advice."

"Don't mention it" he winked behind the mask then left the apartment back out into the prison.

Emily flopped on to her bed and stared at the ceiling, her eyes wandered along from the middle over to the window, from outside the yellow lamplight cast a grimy colour on her bedroom floor. She pulled the curtains over dramatically then sat on the edge of the bed and ran her hands through her hair in a frustrated manner. She rolled into bed and tried sleeping but her mind wouldn't switch off. She gathered a pen and notepad and started to write down some idea. Her mind map was large and with scribbles here and there, words circled and scrubbed in hard so that they jumped out.

She bit her lip doubting her thoughts. She underlined twice her first course of action: "Ask Harley for training." Emily knew how to fight but she was no gymnast. It was a start, plus it would give them the quality girl time that Harley needed.

Tucking comfortably back into bed, a grin spread across her face as she imagined a training session with Harley. She hoped it would be as fun as it was in her head.


	9. Side Projects

The Joker had never craved sleep before, his mind was always awake, he never shut off. In his cell back at the asylum he'd stare at the same spot for hours, ideas of fire and smoke made him giggle with cruel delight. The only time he'd dream would be when Batman knocked him unconscious. He'd dream of destruction and chaos, the clown would be standing on a mountain of corpses laughing with the world burning around him. It was the perfect vision of the future.

But the TITAN in his blood weakened him, he slept for a few hours and would smile with relief when he woke up. He wasn't ready to die yet. He wanted his death to be poetic. Something like a dramatic poem with a punchy ending would satisfy him.

A henchmen came around the corner, keeping his distance he stood to attention as if he was being inspected by a lieutenant. “Sir, the room is ready for you, everything is set up the way you asked.”

The Joker rose from his armchair, stretching his limbs until he heard them crack, he hummed happily and spun towards the henchmen.

“Wonderful! I can't wait to get started!” he grinned, dusting his suit and adjusting the bow tie. He walked forward, a cheerful spring in his step. The Joker placed his gloved hand on the goons shoulder, he jumped and tried to pretend it was a shrug but the clown saw past his attempt at deception and he chuckled darkly.

“No one is to disturb me, understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good,” he paused for a moment and then looked the thug up and down, “What's your name?”

“Club, sir.”

“Aaahhh, you're one of Harley's boys aren't you?”

Club nodded in reply and Joker gave him another look over. Harley had put together a small group of the most trusted, the ones who had some brains and remained loyal, but it didn't matter to him. He had lost count of how many of his thugs he had killed, at least one or two a week, maybe three.

The Joker smirked and patted Club's shoulder. “I like you Club. I do hope you're here longer than the last one.”

He turned a corner and entered a room, much cleaner and brighter than the office. There was a vanity table with three mirrors and lights going along the edges, set out was white face paint and a small tube of red lipstick. A camera sat securely on a tripod, pointing at the large mirror and tied to a chair in the corner of the room, a man dressed in a police officer's uniform, a gag around his mouth and blindfolded.

Everything was perfect. The Joker pulled out a chair and sat in front of the mirror and glared at his reflection, it was the first time he had seen his face in weeks. He turned his head and inspected the new grotesque marks along his chin and neck, picked up the white make-up and lightly applied it to his skin. He took a sharp intake of breath as the marks began to sting at the wet sensation of the paint.

He bit the inside of his cheeks and waited for the subtle pain to pass and then glanced at the camera, its red light blinking ready to begin recording.

He sighed heavily. Reaching for the camera, the light stopped blinking and started recording. He was ready to perform his last will and testament.

The Joker grinned, a cough tickled in his throat, he wheezed, “Well, guess this didn't go well. Can't say I'm too surprised.” He continued to apply white make-up and hissed quietly at each sting. “I only wish I knew...was it the TITAN? Old age? Pissed off arkhamite?”

He smeared more make-up underneath his eye and stretched his smile as he picked up the red lipstick. “Or could it be the best way of all to meet my maker...my **dear** brother-in-harm. The man you fear to love and love to fear! B to the A to the T-Man!” The Joker chuckled, so delighted with his choice of words. “Or, as I like to call him...”

Pausing for dramatic effect, a few seconds went by, then they got longer. And longer. And longer. The Joker never forgot his lines, even if he did he was a master at improvisation but his mind hesitated for a moment and then decided that the next line didn't sound funny any more.

Although his only audience was the man tied up the Joker felt like he had froze on stage, he'd barely started his monologue and his one man show came to a sudden stop. The clown stared back at his reflection, confused, trying to figure out what was wrong with him, besides the obvious. It wasn't stage fright. Was this another side effect of the TITAN?

Gritting his teeth, smile turned into a frown, he checked the video on the camera hoping to find the problem. He watched the video, once, twice and again and again.

The Joker sighed loudly and jumped in front of his victim and pressed the camera into his face. His eyes bulged in terror but the clown didn't seem to take notice. “What do you think, hmm? Am I getting rusty? Have I lost my chaotic spark?”

The victim whimpered into his gag in response. “Well you're no help!” Joker laughed, coughing itching up his throat. “You know, my dear friend, I think I know where I went wrong and it's so so clear! Do you want to know what's wrong? Of course you do! Now look here...”

Joker swung his arm around the man's shoulders and showed him the clip, he said, “As you can see, I'm saying the lines perrrrrrfectly but there's no passion. It's like I'm just doing it for the sake of it and it's not fun any more.”

He looked at his victim, waited for him to answer then chuckled. “Oh yes, you're gagged, ha ha, silly me.” Joker sighed again and rested his head on the man's shoulder like a couple watching a romantic film.

“Oohh what do I do now, ehh...” he quickly glanced down at the officer's name tag, “Jerry Rankin. I've enjoyed this little heart to heart but...all good things must come to an end. I was going to wait until the end of my will to kill you, shame really but oh well! I can always get another!”

From the corner of his eye Jerry saw a spray of water and clamped his eyes shut as it drenched the right side of his face. There was an immediate smell of burning flesh, behind the gag Jerry cried a horrific muffled scream, his skin sizzled, the acid eating it's way through. Giggling, the Joker patted Jerry's shoulder and left him to the torture and returned to his chair, thinking, wondering what to do now.

He needed something to keep him on his toes. Maybe he would work on one of his side projects, he had plenty to choose from...but the motivation wasn't there. Thoughts of murder weren't inspiring him either.

Club stood by the doorway looking down into the loading bay, chuckling to himself, amused at what was happening below. Joker considered pushing him out, the henchman hadn't noticed his return and the thought put a smile back on his face. He approached Club, debating if he had enough strength to push him. Once he was an arm’s length away he had a view of the loading bay, a few of his goons spread about and in the centre Harley was speaking to Emily. His green eyes lit up like flashing Christmas lights, excited to see the daughter of arkham.

“What a pleasant surprise!” he cheerfully cackled, his outburst making Club jump with fright though he tried to hide it. “Such a sweet girl, paying her Uncle Joker a visit.”

“She's been training with Harley for about half an hour now. Shall I go and get her?”

Joker eyed him suspiciously, the temptation to push him out growing. “Do you like her?” he suddenly asked Club, taking him by surprise.

“What? Uh, no...I-I mean I do, she's ah, a pretty girl and nice to talk to but, um I don't...I don't like her in _that_ way, sir” he answered, a panicked bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face.

Chuckling, darkly, he looked at Emily then to Club, then back to Emily. A maniacal laughter rose in his chest, he felt a buzz underneath his skin and there was a small boost of inspiration in his smile. He hopped joyfully from side to side, smirking proudly at the henchmen’s answer enjoying seeing him squirm.

“Rellllllllllax, I’m just playing with you” Joker cooed, mockingly. “I’m expecting a guest soon, when they arrive, show Emily around will you. Give you a chance to get to know her better, eh."

He took a step closer to Club, eyes turned hard like a father about to have a stern talk with his son.

“Just make sure you have her back before ten!”

 

\-----------------

 

“Try again!” Harley snapped her fingers unimpressed by Emily's cartwheel. She'd been trying to perfect the cartwheel for an hour now, and she was beginning to regret asking Harley for training.

“You're not getting the starting stance right!” she showed Emily the foot positions again, then elegantly kicked her legs into the air and landed gracefully on her feet.

“I didn't know a cartwheel would be this complicated to do.” She went into position and attempted it four more times until Harley was convinced that she perfected it and moved on to something else. Emily wanted to learn the basics of survival and skills to help her move around the city quicker, she knew sooner or later her luck at stealth would run out. Harley had taught her some flips and tricks and some self defense, she wondered what sort of things Catwoman could teach her.

In the far corner a group of goons would occasionally look up from their card game, sniggering and whispering things that Emily assumed were about her. She tried her best to ignore them but certain words managed to reach her ears and she glared at them from the corner of her eye. They laughed and awed at her as if she were a tumbling puppy.

Harley snapped her head in their direction, her eyes searching for the unlucky thug to help with the training. “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,” she sung as the goons watched Harley point her finger at each one, “Catch a goon by his throat. If he screams, let him choke, eeny, meeny, miny, moe!”

Her finger landed on the goon closest to her. “Get up,” she ordered, “You're gonna help Emily train.” She lashed out, grabbing him by the shirt and threw him into the middle of the loading bay. His body thumped uncomfortably on the ground by Emily's boots, she took a couple of steps back as he stood up, quietly swearing at Harley.

“Punch him, Emily!”

Emily stared at the goon, her fists frozen above her chest, he looked back at her with an amused smile, playfully challenging her to strike. Tightening her fist she punched him across the jaw. When she made impact Emily knew it wasn't strong enough and she was sure that it hurt her more than him.

The thug chuckled and rubbed the side of his face as if she kissed him instead. “Aww, that was an adorable punch, sweetiepie” he joked.

She felt her face blush red, the lump in her throat was hard to swallow as she tried to recover from the embarrassment. In the asylum Emily knew how to fight, she remembered saving a doctor and fighting goons and winning. She didn’t understand why she was finding it difficult now.

 _I feel like I’ve skipped the fighting tutorial_ , she thought.

Harley tutted. “Em, I honestly expected better. Here, this is how you do it.” Harley casually walked over and whistled to get the goons attention. Her fist collided with his face, the sound of her knuckles cracking against the goons cheek, the sound was oddly satisfying. He rolled back on the ground, blood trickled from his mouth and down his chin, splashing small puddles on the floor.

Harley stepped beside Emily and patted her shoulder, her smile beaming with encouragement. “With a little more training, doll, you’ll have them bleeding and leave them with broken bones.

The goon crawled onto his knees and groaned. His shirt was covered in drips of blood, his harsh breaths covered up the insults he was murmuring.

“Oh, quit being a big baby and go clean yourself up, you look a mess.”

Emily continued her training for another hour, she was too nervous to ask for a break. Harley was in the middle of showing her another acrobatic trick when Club approached them and whisper into Harley’s ear. Emily turned away to give them privacy, she tried to listen in but only picked up a couple of words that didn’t tell her much.

“Hey, Em, take a break. Mistah J needs some help, Club here will show you around!” She slapped Club forward and skipped off, cheerfully humming to herself, leaving the two of them standing in an awkward silence.

“It’s nice to meet you again.” Emily gave him a small smile, she thought about shaking his hand but kept her arm glued to her side.

“Yeah, uh same...yeah,” he stammered, glancing up at the manager's office, “It’s nice to see you again, too.” Club lead her to the elevators and took her down to the boiler room which the thugs used as a shooting gallery. Sad, colourful flags hung from the ceiling, she kept her eyes on the floor to avoid the debris and stayed a reasonable distance from the other thugs there. There was a line of glass bottles sitting along the non moving conveyor belt and a goon was swinging a baseball bat and smashing each one.

“Where are the penguin targets?” she asked.

Club blinked in confusion. “Penguin targets?”

“Yeah the...the...never mind” she muttered, awkwardly avoiding his gaze and moved on to a different subject. “Where do you sleep? Do you have a place to stay?”

“Depends. Last night I slept in the cloakroom and the night before that in a back of a car. I try to stay awake for as long as possible, it's dangerous going to sleep, anyone could come along and steal my things or kill me.”

 _God, I’m glad I’ve got an apartment,_ she thought.

Emily wanted to know what he did that got him thrown into the city. He didn’t seem like the typical joker henchmen type. She bit her tongue trying not to let her curiosity win her over, although it was tempting she decided to save the question for another time.

The boiling room was dark, brown walls and pipes and floor, the green lights and the burning red furnace were the only light source. She examined the gigantic clown masks propped to the side, wondering how on earth the Joker managed to get them in here then followed Club into the adjoining area. As they walked through, her eyes spotted a box sitting to the side and that she recognized. The Jokers small cardboard box of treasures. She looked over the box of Joker goodies and could feel each of the objects pulse with chaotic energy. Inside was a rubber chicken, spiral glasses, the smiling fish and chattering teeth, each item holding memories that were pulling her in.

Reaching out, she grabbed the rubber chicken and squeezed it then stretched it as far as she could, feeling the memories vibrating inside. It gave off a warm sensation on her palm and it got hotter and hotter.

“So, eh, how are you finding life in the prison now? I think the boss wants you to um, eh, live here now, until we get out of this prison.” Club mumbled and propped himself up on the hood of a bumper,interrupting her concentration.

Emily sat inside the car and dangled her legs over the edge, still examining the rubber chicken, not taking her eyes off it. She was only half listening to Club. “Oh right...I’m staying out of trouble, and try to be less polite” she replied.

“Well, you're doing good about that last part” he commented but she wasn't paying attention.

Not being able to resist Emily opened the memory. Her vision was black for a moment then there was an explosion of colour. Red, yellow, green, blue and purple flashed in front of her like paint being slapped onto a canvas. Taking deep breaths she focused hard, trying to find the strongest memory but couldn’t pull together a clear image of a person or place. Teeth clenched with frustration Emily pushed further and could her voices, she recognised the Jokers but didn’t know the second. She picked up a few words...they were discussing something about money...an order of weapons that went wrong...a couple of death threats as well.

 _“Ooohhhhhh Mr Bigby, you realllllly shouldn’t have said that_ ” she heard the Joker giggle then erupt into his wicked laughter then she suddenly felt like she was being suffocated. The bright colours turned darker. Angrier. She felt the sensation of hands gripping her face, pushing her head back and forcing her mouth open. She couldn’t breathe. Tears streamed from her eyes and the Joker's laughter roaring in her ears as pain wrapped around her throat, tightening harder and harder.

The memory hadn’t taken it’s full vision but it had complete control over Emily. Voices shouted in her head, so loud that she couldn’t hear her own. She felt as though something rubbery was being slapped across her face over and over again, whatever the weapon was it honked each time it struck her. Emily screamed like a banshee, her limbs felt numb but she thrashed her arms and legs furiously in all directions making her lose grip of the rubber chicken. The prop flew from her hand and bounced off the floor, the voice box inside it calling out sadly.

Emily’s eyes immediately snapped open, her gaze locked on to the panicked man hovering above her. “Emily?! What the fuck? Are you alright?” he asked, gripping hold of her shoulders and pulling her into a more comfortable sitting position.  
  
Before she could respond the Harley Quinn intercom came to life, it's scratchy jingle was accompanied by the distorted voice that came through. “Hey! Mistah J is ready to see Emily, bring her up!”


	10. Chapter 10

Club stood outside the bathroom door, standing guard as he waited for Emily to freshen up from her little incident. From across the room the Harley intercom squeaked into life for the fifth time and Harley's voice screeched through, threatening to hurt him if Emily wasn't in Joker's office in the next seven minutes.

When the message ended clumps of Joker goons looked away from their tasks and eyed him up. They were all very curious about Emily and why the Joker had such an interest in her. Club nodded back at them and hoped that they wouldn't approach him, they had already teased him about his new assigned job as 'babysitter.'

He slammed his fist on the door twice and called out. "Hurry up in there Emily. Harley is gettin' real impatient."

Emily's hands were still shaking as she gripped the grimy cracked sink, concentrating on trying to control her nerves. Small beads of sweat rolled down her forehead and she wiped them away leaving dirty fingerprints behind. She knew that she looked a mess and tried not to glance at her reflection.

"I'll be a minute, hang on!" she shouted but her voice croaked, begging or water. Emily turned on the tap to drink but the water had a brown tint to it so abandoned the idea, instead she splashed it on her face and used scratchy paper towels to dry herself. She had tried the hand dryer but it coughed twice then stopped working altogether.

The sensation from the memory was now a dull warm buzz in the back of her head like pins and middles but it eventually faded away. Taking deep breaths she took a moment to focus and processed what just happened. Memories had never affected her like that before and it scared her, if she hadn't broken the connection things could have been much worse.

Sighing, Emily reluctantly stared in the mirror that was smeared with handprints and dust. She grabbed a paper towel and ran it under the water then scrubbed away the dirty marks and got a good look at her face.

She looked awful.

Her skin was sickly pale, strands of her hair were stuck to her cheek and neck, she tried her best to comb through it with her fingers then tied it up with a bobble. Every inch of her skin felt sticky and disgusting but the thought of a hot shower was a small comfort. She prayed that the hot water would be working back at her apartment.

She peeked her head out the bathroom and rejoined Club and tried to avoid the curious stares the Joker goons gave her. He lead her back to the elevator, the walk was silent and awkward. Emily tried to think of something to say but her thoughts were interrupted as Club spoke up.

"Next time you do your weird, superhero power stuff, give me a warning, alright. If you get hurt, even the slightest scratch the boss will kill me. And I ain't dyin' by his laughin' gas shit or any other of his weird murder tricks, understand?"

she slowly nodded, like a child getting into trouble. "Yes, I understand, I'm sorry. When I look at memories that doesn't happen, it was the first time it backfired on me. I don't know what I did wrong."

"Well, just be careful next time you wanna show off."

The silence assumed again once the elevator reached the bottom. They stepped inside and stood at either sides, as they neared the top Emily was lost in her thoughts again,thinking on Clubs words. He was right but a part of what he said really nagged at her and she couldn't hold her tongue..

"I'm not a superhero, by the way" she stated, "I just happen to have some strange abilities, that's all."

Club gave her a short laugh and shrugged his shoulders. "Little girl, most of the people in this city who have weird powers like you are bad guys and if you haven't figured that out yet, then maybe you should have your head checked, cause you're not a bad guy. But hey, maybe you're right. You aren't a superhero now but I bet one day you will be."

He paused for a moment, chuckled, then continued. "One night I'm going to be doing some bad guy stuff then out from the darkness you'll come out and punch me in the face. And through the pain and my broken smile I'll tell you 'I-told-you-so.'"

Emily screwed up her mouth in thought, but it was mostly to stop herself from laughing. In the asylum she had briefly talked becoming a superhero with the Joker, she had picked out a name but she didn't feel close to being one.

It took Batman years of training to master martial arts and other skills, her supernatural powers only gave her so much. She could hold her own in a fist fight but she wasn't extremely strong or powerful. She still didn't even know how far her powers stretched, for all she knew finding memories and making things go in slow motion were her only super abilities.

"In all honesty, Club, I don't think I want to be a superhero. I think I''m more cut out for the police force."

"Fair enough, but you never know, you might change your mind."

He lead her up to the Joker's office. Before she entered Club patted her shoulder and placed his hand on the doorknob but didn't open it.

"Listen, he's been acting weird today...well weirder than usual so just watch what you say."

Emiy raised her eyebrow curiously and swallowed the sudden nervous lump in her throat. "Thanks for the warning."

The first thing she noticed when she stepped inside was that the office looked tidier, though it must have been cleaned in a hurry as pieces of paper and other objects were sticking out from under the large carpet.

The Joker sat in his chair, facing the window, she could see a tuff of green hair sticking up from the top. He was silent and it made her suspicious.

She approached from the left, slow and careful. He looked tired and was staring out the window eyes focused on the asylum in the distance. She could still make out its destruction as vines remained curled around buildings, there didn't seem to be any sort of repair.

She stood straight and awkward, silently waiting for him to notice her. He looked lost in thought, and was sitting so still that for a short second she thought that he was dead or he was pretending to be.

"Sorry I'm late, Mr Joker" she apologized, gently tapping his shoulder to get his attention.

He snapped his head towards her, his green eyes flashed in surprise. His hand twitched and moved close to his trouser pocket to collect whatever weapon he had, but relaxed when he realized it was Emily.

"You're looking well today" she complimented, noticing the extra few layers of make-up covering the red marks on his face.

The Joker smiled and moved the chair around so that he faced her fully and then adjusted his bowtie which immediately went lopsided again and then dusted the front of his suit.

"Thank you my dear. It's amazing what a cup of chamomile tea can do," he gleefully told her, "Clears the skin and helps with indigestion, did you know that?"

"I didn't know that, actually," Emily smiled, "You learn something new everyday."

"Please, take a seat" he said, grinning and sitting up straight in his chair.

She took a quick glance around the room and found a brown wheelchair. The wheels were stiff and ticked annoyingly as she sat down and dragged herself along by her heels, and then settled in front of him.

"I'm glad you're here, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about," his tone was serious but he kept smiling.

"Oh? Is everything alright?" Emily asked, even though she had some idea about what he was going to tell her.

He cleared his throat and clasped his hands with a slap like he was conducting a job interview and leaned forward. "Now I'm sure you already know this my dear but I'm dying." He said it so casually as if it wasn't a big deal, that is wasn't serious. He continued.

"I've been thinking about my will. I've left all my fancy top hats for the Mad Hatter, I recorded a love song for Bats, my old rollercoaster carts are going to Riddler and all my old outfits will be going to charity stores after they are dipped in poison."

He giggled wickedly at the last part and she wondered why he was giving Riddler a rollercoaster but didn't ask why.

"Everyone gets a little something but I'm not sure what I should leave behind for you but I have some ideas and I thought it'd be best if I went through them with you."

He reached inside his suit and brought out a few sheets of paper and unfolded them then put on some glasses that were cracked in the right lens. She had never seen him wear glasses before and doubted that he needed them to read.

"I could leave you a large amount of money but that wouldn't be personal and I don't want you to spend it all in one candy store. Then it occurred to me that, what's going to happen to all my wonderful toys when I'm gone? It would be an awful shame if they were destroyed or put into a museum and never played with again."

He started going through his list further, the items getting more and more ridiculous. What the Hell was she going to do with a giant jack-in-the-box?! She had to admit that having the fake bang gun would be pretty cool.

"Mr Joker, I'm, I'm honestly extremely flattered but I couldn't take them. That is way too much, they'd be better going to some-"

"Nonsense! You deserve the very best!" he interrupted her as he waved his hands in a dramatic flourish. "I'll make sure that you're well looked after once I'm gone. And I won't leave you with my funeral costs."

Emily could only smile and chuckle at his comments. From the way he spoke she knew that she had no choice, whatever she'd say to try and tempt away his decisions it wouldn't matter. There was also no point in trying to explain to him that all his possessions would more than likely be taken by the police or stolen by other criminals. She pulled a tiny smile at the thought of trying to find a storage place to keep all his wondrous and deadly items, she didn't know why she found it so amusing.

Her mind wandered for a moment or two, daydreaming about all of the unrealistic possibilities of what she could do with the Jokers toys and then something unusual caught her eye.

"Isn't his flower meant to be on the right?" she thought. She also noticed that his green hair wasn't as vibrant and his suit was a slightly different shade of purple. There was also no stitched patch on his trouser leg.

Emily lightly bit the tip of her tongue and her eyes glittered as a thought crossed her mind. She wasn't talking to the Joker. This was Clayface. She was sure of it.

"This must be a test," she thought, "Trying to see if I can spot the differences? But what if it's just Clayface's mistake? Or what if I'm just jumping to stupid conclusions...of course he'll have more than one suit..."

She tried to calm her excitement and put her full attention back on him, nodding her head as the Joker went through the final items.

"Wow, I'm flattered, really. I mean, it just seems like an awful just for me and...Is that a new suit?" she added, unable to think of a more subtle way to bring it up.

The Joker raised his eyebrow quizzingly then glanced at the flower. He grinned and nodded and shuffled in the chair happily. "Why yes it is, I'm so glad you noticed!"

Emily smiled back, still a little unsure if she was talking to Joker or Clayface. What else could she test him with? Maybe with a fake memory?  _Detective vision would help me out a lot right now_ , she thought.

"I'm going to have to have a little think about this, Mr Joker. I mean, I don't want to be greedy or anything."

The Joker chuckled deeply, to anyone else it would have sounded sinister. "My dear, if I could give you the world I would. But then you'd have to stop me from burning it down!"

Emily laughed and tried not to feel awkward. There was so much that she didn't know about her relationship with the Joker. Memories were yet to be unlocked and a part of her was afraid of what she would find if she opened them but she was a curious girl.

The Joker went through extra details and got her to sign a document, he told her that it meant that upon his death she'd claim the items. The document wasn't official, it looked like it was made on a simple word processor and a Gotham lawyers symbol had been pasted into the top corner and she also noticed a few misspelled words. She signed her name and the Joker wrote 'Jack White' then tucked all the sheets back into his jacket.

"I better check in with the medical team, you know just so they aren't worried about me" she said realizing that she hadn't left a message with any of them.

"Of course, of course," he giggled, "How is Cash, by the way? Is he still sulking about the asylum?"

"Hes fine" she told him, keeping her answers short and her voice plain. "And I don't think so. He seems...he seems fine about it." Emily hoped that her tone was hard enough to suggest to him that Cash wasn't a subject they were ever going to talk about. She couldn't let him manipulate her into talking about Cash or he'd use him against her, and she made a promise to Cash that she intended to keep.

She wished him goodbye, thought about giving him a hug but quickly decided not to.

"Remember, if you need anything all you have to do is ask. And I mean anything. I'll give you money, if you want someone dead just say the word!"

"I'll keep that in mind, Mr Joker" she replied politely.

Emily didn't think that the Joker loved her. He certainly seemed to care about her or had some kind of strange affection but she found it hard to believe that he would love her. She tried to convince herself that maybe he saw her like a daughter but even that was a stretch.

She returned back to the church, from outside the doors she heard Cash shouting and an other voice trying to cut him off.

Stepping inside, Emily checked in with the doctors, doing what she could to help. Cash was in the little space that he used as his office but she couldn't see who he was telling off, all the members of the team were out seeing to inmates and standing guard. Who was he speaking to?

She quickly got her answer as Cash walked out and following him was a tall, red haired man with brown eyes carrying a large box in one hand and his other clenched into a tight fist. She recognized him almost immediately, and tried not to stare too much.

"This is your final warning. Do you understand, Elliot?" Cash warned.

"I understand, Aaron. It won't happen again, I'm sorry" he apologized, a faint trace of annoyance in his tone.

Elliot glanced in her direction and Cash followed his gaze and they walked towards her. She felt a pang in her chest and for a moment Emily's heart didn't beat, an understandable reaction to when you're about to meet another Batman villain.

"Emily, I don't think the two of you have met before, have you?"

"Aaahh, so you're the girl I've heard so much about then," he gave her a handsome smile and held out his hand for her to shake, "I'm Thomas Elliot, very pleased to meet you."

"Hi, I'm Emily, nice to meet you" she replied and shook his hand. She thought that he had surprisingly soft hands for a surgeon and murderer. "I hope it's just been good things you've heard about me."

There was a slight pause then Elliot's smile curled up. "I promise it's been nothing but good things, my dear."

"Doctor Elliot is one of our surgeons and apparently is the very best which is why I get upset when he leaves without a word" Cash commented and Elliot rolled his eyes. "See if the others need any help and get up to date with the schedules."

Cash went back to his office, leaving them alone in an uncomfortable silence. Elliot was a good looking man but the way he stared at her, like he knew something that she didn't gave her the creeps.

"I must say I find it kinda refreshing to see Cash shouting at someone else who isn't me" she joked.

"He certainly has a bit of a temper. He really should control it."

"Well he just wants to make sure everyone is safe," she defended. "If you get killed out there then he's failed his job. Plus you don't want these streets to be your grave."

He chuckled. "Trust me munchkin, I've learnt my lesson. Aaron made it pretty clear what would happen if I do it again."

She blinked. Did she hear him right?

_What...what did he call me? He...he called me...munchkin. What?!_

Emily swallowed the sticky, sickening lump in her throat. She thought that if the Joker had heard him call her that he'd have been shot. Or worse. She didn't like being called nicknames from anyone else apart from Cash and the Joker, she really didn't like it.

"Good...well, hopefully we'll get to know each other and see you back on Cash's good side."

He smiled and she noticed just how straight and perfect his teeth were and that he had a small cluster of freckles on his cheeks, it made him look almost friendly. From what she could remember, the only mention of him in the asylum was a Riddler clue that was in the medical ward. His name was written on a whiteboard, something about a night shift schedule.

He must of only worked at the asylum for a short time as he didn't seem to know her and Cash didn't appear to recognize him, but she had no idea how long he had been working at the asylum.

She knew what he was in the city to do and there was nothing she could do about it. It was highly frustrating. She'd have to try and keep an eye on him.

Emily gave a tired sigh, it had been such a long day, all of her energy was almost spent. She excused herself from Elliot's company and found a hospital bed that wasn't being used and lay down.

Dealing with Elliot would have to wait.

She shut her eyes and concentrated on a soft noise in the background and minutes later she was asleep.


End file.
